472 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



the pot will also assist in preserving the flesh white. The more 

 slowly birds are boiled, the better; in fact, the whole process 

 should be confined within a simmer : the more gradual the simmer, 

 the more tender will be the flesh. It requires a longer time to 

 cook game in this way than to roast or broil it. 



OTHER WAYS OF COOKING GROUSE OR PHEASANTS. 



Some persons have a fancy for cooking grouse, or rather basting 

 them, with a rich gravy made of butter, spice, and Port wine. We 

 have eaten them stewed in this kind of dressing, as well as stuffed 

 with a variety of herbs or forced-meat balls. 



These made dishes are all very nice in themselves, and calculated 

 to please the fancy 'of many ; but a pheasant stewed in Port wine 

 and spices is no longer a pheasant, and therefore does not suit our 

 palate ; for, when we eat game, we like both to know it and taste it. 



Pheasants are very passable when split in the back and broiled, 

 as recommended for partridges. There^are other modes for cook- 

 ing grouse, which, however, are not worth referring to. 



TO COOK A SNIPE, WOODCOCK, PLOVER, ETC. 



As before said, the more plainly game-birds are cooked, the 

 better. This observation applies particularly to the two former 

 birds, as they each possess a rich gamy flavor which should be pre- 

 served unadulterated by any of the complicated arts of cookery. 



A snipe may be larded and roasted; but a woodcock jamais 

 jamais ! We regard a larded woodcock entirely outre, a positive 

 abomination. Yet there are some excellent cooks who will persist 



