ROAST PARTRIDGE.
1039. INGREDIENTS.—Partridge; butter.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose young birds, with dark-coloured bills and yellowish legs, and let them hang a few days, or there will be no flavour to the flesh, nor will it be tender. The time they should be kept, entirely depends on the taste of those for whom they are intended, as what some persons would consider delicious, would be to others disgusting and offensive. They may be trussed with or without the head, the latter mode being now considered the most fashionable. Pluck, draw, and wipe the partridge carefully inside and out; cut off the head, leaving sufficient skin on the neck to skewer back; bring the legs close to the breast, between it and the side-bones, and pass a skewer through the pinions and the thick part of the thighs. When the head is left on, it should be brought round and fixed on to the point of the skewer.
[Illustration: ROAST PARTRIDGE.]
Mode.—When the bird is firmly and plumply trussed, roast it before a nice bright fire; keep it well basted, and a few minutes before serving, flour and froth it well. Dish it, and serve with gravy and bread sauce, and send to table hot and quickly. A little of the gravy should be poured over the bird.—See coloured plate, D1.
Time.—25 to 35 minutes. Average cost, is 1s. 6d. to 2s. a brace.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
[Illustration: PARTRIDGES.]
THE PARTRIDGE.—This bird is to be found in nearly all the temperate countries of Europe, but is most abundant in the Ukraine, although it is unable to bear the extremes of climate, whether hot or cold. It was formerly very common in France, and is considered a table luxury in England. The instinct of this bird is frequently exemplified in a remarkable manner, for the preservation of its young. "I have seen it often," says a very celebrated writer, and an accurate observer of nature, "and once in particular, I saw an extraordinary instance of an old bird's solicitude to save its brood. As I was hunting with a young pointer, the dog ran on a brood of very small partridges; the old bird cried, fluttered, and ran tumbling along just before the dog's nose, till she had drawn him to a considerable distance, when she took wing, and flew still further off, but not out of the field; on this the dog returned to me, near the place where the young ones lay concealed in the grass, which the old bird no sooner perceived than she flew back to us, settled just before the dog's nose again, and by rolling and tumbling about, drew off his attention from her young, and thus preserved her brood a second time. I have also seen, when a kite has been hovering over a covey of young partridges, the old birds fly up at the bird of prey, screaming and fighting with all their might to preserve their brood." Partridges should be chosen young; if old, they are valueless. The young ones are generally known by their yellow legs and dark-coloured bills.