SC - Request for inspiration

[Maggie MacDonald]

I said:
> > The bird got his nice new coloured feathers just in time for the event.
We
> > killed and pulled the bird, then removed the skin+feathers.  These we
salted
> > for reconstruction at presentation.  (I can give info on how we did
that,
> > too if anyone is interested)
Lord Stefan asked:
> Please do. If that noisy peacock reappears this coming spring and summer
> at my mother's I may have reason to know more about these techniques. :-)
> It would be shame to waste teh skin and those wonderful feathers.

While I fear that the peacock in question may well be a tad tough for eating
as it is obviously older, I personally can't think of a better way to honour
it than to serve it :-).
The following is my recollection of the main points in killing and dressing
the peacock.

WARNING: squeamish types should avoid the following descriptions.  I assure
them it was all done humanely and hygienically, but if you've never killed
and dressed a bird or beast it could be distressing.

Items required: lots of salt, (several kilograms of it) lots of newspaper, a
cool well ventilated area that is dry and secure from animals, a scalpel or
craft knife, a small sharp knife, a steel knitting needle or equivalent, as
well as a clean area with large sink and running water for pulling the bird.

1. We strangled it and then bled it.  With hindsight, we will cut the head
off the next one (like killing geese) as I ended up having to cut the head
off anyway to deal with the skull. Two things: peacocks are very strong, and
they have spurs. We had the experience of my father in law to rely on, as a
farmer who knows how to restrain and correctly slaughter all manner of
beasts.  It was hard to keep the blood off of the feathers, and any that got
on the fathers had to be cleaned off with slightly soapy tepid water asap.

2. We slit the skin down breast and between the legs to the vent, and
skinned it back from cut, moving our fingers beneath the skin to separate
it.  In some spots this required a knife and lots of care not to nick the
skin. The special areas are the wings and the tail:  we cut the wings off at
the 'elbow', leaving the 'forearm' and 'fingers' in for now.  The tail has a
large mass of fat which the feather shafts are embedded in: it takes some
care and patience to cut the flesh away from the base of the tail.  If you
go slowly and look before you cut you should be ok.

3. With the bird carcass now out of its skin, pull it, rinse it and bag it
under vacuum (the old pour water in and let it pour out method is ok).
Freeze or refrigerate or cook immediately, but someone has to get back to
dealing with the skin immediately.

4. There are several things that have to happen quickly to avoid spoilage:
get rid of the remaining flesh in the wings and around the tail, and deal
with the head.
4a Wings: tunnel into the wing and cut away as much flesh as you can find.
Turn the wing inside out as you go.  Depending on how big and how 'fat' you
bird is depends on how far you can get.  we couldn't get the tips out. Pack
these with salt
4b tail: cut and pull all the fat and flesh you can from around the tail
feather shafts. A set of stainless steel dissecting forceps is ideal.  The
more you remove the better.  Pack the area with salt
4c Head.  This is the ukky bit: pierce the skull from both the base of the
neck and through the roof of the mouth with the knitting needle. Macerate
the contents and flush with clean water.  Repeat until there's nothing
there.  A hooked piece of wire was useful: think of those experiments with
making mummies! Pack with salt.

5. Lay the bird out on its back on lots of newspaper, in a place it wont be
disturbed, ensuring the feathers are all sitting flat: this takes some
arranging but the effort now will stop the feathers getting bent.  Fan out
the breast and the wings: now heap everything with salt, inside and out,
ensuring everything is well covered

6. leave it for 6-8 hours, then change the salt: it will be absorbing all
the moisture and will need changing 2-3 times a day for the first two days.
This depends on how much flesh you cleaned out and how dry the air is.  We
put ours in my parents second lounge on a tiled floor in our winter - but
our winters are mild and dry.

7. Change the salt as required, and while doing this inspect the bird for
damp spots. Pick the salt out of the wings and tail and re-pack

8. IF YOU GET MAGGOTS: don't panic! If you are checking the bird regularly
they won't have damaged anything, and are pointing you to an area that
wasn't properly cleaned or salted.  Deal with the cleaning and stuff more
salt there.

It was our experience that the bird took a week to be thoroughly cured, and
the handling during the salt changes were enough to keep the skin pliable.

To assemble the bird: I sewed the head to the neck with fine linen thread
and then wired the skull with several strands of wire anchored in the skull
and extending all the way out of the body. We stuffed the neck with wood
wool and cotton fibre.  The body was sat over a pre cooked thick pastry
blank made of salt dough.  I had a casserole dish that was just the right
size to get the cooked bird under and the skin over so it was used as the
mould. I lightly stuffed the gap between the skin and the dough to give a
pleasing shape. The skin was sewn or pinned to the pastry as required.  The
neck wires were spread out over the pastry to give the neck some stability.
We used a baby's hair brush to get the last of the salt out of the feathers.

At the competition it was presented on a huge brass platter surrounded with
herbs and flowers, with its tail out flat.  It was lifted up to reveal the
cooked bird, which was carved and served.
At its second outing, it went on to the same platter, but surrounded with
marchpane fruits and flowers.  The tail was wired in the display position by
placing a large blob of uncooked salt dough under the tail and sticking long
skewers in it, then wiring the main feathers to the skewers.  This was
secure enough that it could be paraded down the hall to high table, then put
on a smaller, decorated table that had been placed for it.

After all its travelling and handling, it showed no sign of decay, and if
stored in a cool dry place with the occasional application of salt, I think
it would keep for months, if not years.

We also used this technique on the chickens, and geese for the 12 days of
Christmas, and on numerous pheasants and quail, and it never fails to score
less than 10 on the spiff-wow scale.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me!

Esla of Ifeld (Sue Carter)
Innilgard, Lochac (Adelaide, South Australia)