Re(2): SC - peacocks and eels

[Sue Wensel]

> At 10:18 PM 4/17/97 -0600, Stefan li Rous wrote, quoting me:
> >1. A peacock is a game bird, and cooks differently than a chicken.
> >2. It was a peaCOCK, not a peaHEN, and took longer to cook because of this.
> >>>>>>
> >Please explain these two points to new cook. If the peacock and the
> >chicken are the same size, why would they cook differently?
> 
> It is my understanding that game birds (pheasant, for example) take much
> longer to cook than your average off-the-shelf chicken. Also, unless spiced
> some way (like roasted in rose water, as someone else suggested), you will
> get a very "gamey" flavor from the meat.

In my experience growing up in a hunting household, what generally told how
gamey the meat was was the competence of the person who gutted it.  If they
were poor, the meat was so bad as to be almost uneatable (but never waste
meat!).  If they were average, the meat was "gamey."  If they were good, then
the meat tasted wonderful, and even avowed non-game eaters loved it.  The
difference was in how the entrails were handled.  

Difference 1:  Good field-dressing ties off the urethra *before* doing
anything else.  This means getting a little messy, but it makes for better
meat if it has not been in contact with urine.  The meat directly in contact
is really unfit for human consumption, and the remaining meat around the
cavity tastes gamey.

Difference 2:  The entrails are handled quite carefully.  Slitting the skin is
done carefully -- to make sure that the peritoneum (or whatever lines the
abdomen) is the only thing slit/there are no nicks in the entrails.

Difference 3:  Field dressing is done immediately after killing, not a half
hour to an hour after the kill when the animal is home.

Another factor in the taste of game meat is how it is cooked.  Remember, most
game meat is significantly leaner than domestic animals.  Therefore they need
to be cooked *slowly* in a moist environment (roast in covered pan with water,
simmer in a stew, etc.).  Birds tend to do better skinned.  This will give you
quite good tasting, moist, non-gamey meat.

Derdriu
(whose family insisted that everyone -- guys and gals -- hunt for at least one
year to decide if we liked it or not)

swensel at brandegee.lm.com
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