[Sca-cooks] Something for the Season

[JIMCHEVAL at aol.com]

A long time ago I translated two eighteenth century recipes for the  bird:
 

The "Dons de Comus"  offers  two recipes for turkey with truffles, one 
simply 

an entrée:



"Young turkey  with truffles



Take one or two turkeys. Prepare them for the spit. They  can be cooked in 

strips of lard, like a chicken. Put in the body a lump of  butter worked 
with 

salt, pepper, nutmeg, grated lard, some chopped truffles. Plug  them up and 
do not let them overcook. Serve on this a well-cooked stew of  truffles."



And the other a 'big' (main?) entrée:



"Turkey with  truffles, foie gras and small onions



Prepare it as for the spit. Take  foie gras and whole or halved truffles, 
two 

dozen small onions cooked in the  cinders, or half in strips of thick 
bacon. Season all this together with grated bacon,  one or two bars of butter, a 
little white veal stock, salt, pepper & basil,  all well married togethers. 
Stuff your turkey, & cook it on the spit. Serve  with white veal stock and a 
few truffles."



This one, for a cold  entremets, begins by cooking the turkey, but seems 

suitable for leftovers as  well. The *Larousse Gastronomique* says that a 
'daube' usually involved meat  braised in stock (as is not the case here), 
but that in earlier use it always  applied to meat intended to be (as here) 
served cold:



"Old turkey a la  daube



Pluck it and truss it inside. Lard it crossways with large strips of thick 
bacon, season with salt, pepper, basil, nutmeg & a little spice. Put it in a 
stewpot or terrine with some strips of lard, or other meat peelings. Put it 
on  hot cinders & season with salt, pepper, clove, basil, laurel. Cover it 
&  put in a pint [English pint] of white wine, two sols worth of brandy, & 
half  a glass of water. Let all this cook slowly for eight hours and more if  
necessary. Let it cool in its sauce, & serve it with [sic].



Old  turkey can be made into paté or in the pot. It can be used to make 
white 

[white  meat?]. The legs are used separately."

"Dons de Comus" (II,  133-135)

Of course, since peacock is said to taste like very tough turkey, one could 
 always use any of the numerous peacock recipes out there to stay in  
period.
 
 
Jim  Chevallier
 (http://www.chezjim.com/) www.chezjim.com

Les Leftovers: sort of a food history  blog
leslefts.blogspot.com