[Sca-cooks] Pigeons (was Magpie)

[Dragon]

Linda Peterson wrote:
>Once again the cooks list has echoed. In a post-apocolyptic moment last
>weekend, closely following reading a bistilla recipe, I was wondering
>about pigeons. Around here, at least, they are parasite ridden and unsafe
>to eat. My question is, is there any way they can be preparred that will
>destroy the parasites without removing all possible food value. At least
>the bubonic plague pretty much sticks to the rodents here.
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I would suggest staying away from the wild caught variety, the danger 
isn't so much in eating the cooked bird as the cooking will kill the 
pathogens, it is in handling the raw carcass.

Do you have any Asian markets in your area? It is quite likely that 
they will have domestically raised pigeon for sale, some Middle 
Eastern markets may as well. I know it isn't quite authentic, but 
chicken or quail also work pretty well in a bistilla recipe if you 
really can't find a safe source of pigeon meat.

Dragon

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