Chapter 12

The flexibility of the windpipe is an excellent test for the age of ducks. In the young bird, the windpipe may be easily moved; whereas, in the old one, it is stationary and quite hard. The meat of ducks is dark over the entire bird, and the greatest amount is found on the breast. Its flavor is quite typical, and differs very much from turkey and chicken. However, there is a comparatively small amount of meat even on a good-sized duck, and it does not carve to very good advantage; in fact, more persons can be served from a chicken or a turkey of the same weight. Young ducks are rather difficult to clean, as a layer of fine down, which is not easily removed, covers the skin.

24. SELECTION OF GEESE.--Geese are much more commonly used for food in foreign countries than in America. Their age may be told in the same way as that of ducks, namely, by feeling of the windpipe. The flesh is dark throughout and rather strongly flavored. The fat is used quite extensively for cooking purposes, and even as a butter substitute in some countries. Because of this fact, geese are generally fattened before they are slaughtered, and often half the weight of the bird is fat. The livers of fattened geese reach enormous proportions and are considered a delicacy. They are used for _pate de fois gras_. Usually, this is put up in jars and brings a very high price.

25. SELECTION OF PIGEONS.--Pigeons are raised primarily for their use as _squabs_. These are young birds about 4 weeks old, and their meat is tender and agreeable to the taste. The meat of the mature pigeon becomes quite tough and unpalatable. The breast is the only part of the bird that has meat on it in any quantity, and this meat is slightly lighter in color than that which comes from the remainder of the body. Midsummer is the best season for squabs, but they can be purchased at other times of the year. The cost of squabs is too high to allow them to be used extensively as a food in the ordinary household.

TABLE I

GUIDE TO THE SELECTION OF POULTRY

Market Name Weight Age Season Pounds

Squab broiler 3/4 to 1-1/4 6 to 8 wk. April to July Broiler 1-1/2 to 2 2 to 4 mo. May to Sept. Frying chicken 2-1/2 to 3 6 mo. June to Oct. Roasting chicken 3 to 6 6 mo. to 1 yr. All Year Fowl 4 to 5 over 1 yr. All Year Capon 6 to 10 6 to 8 wk. May to Sept. Turkey broiler 1-1/2 to 4 2 to 4 mo. June to Sept. Roasting turkey 8 to 25 6 mo. to 3 yr. Oct. to Jan. Spring Duck 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 2 to 6 mo. May to Dec. Roasting Duck 4 to 8 6 mo. to 1 yr. Best in winter Green goose 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 2 to 6 mo. May to Dec. Roasting goose 4 to 8 6 mo. to 1 yr. Oct. to Mar. Squab 1/2 to 3/4 4 wk. June to Sept. Guinea hen broiler 1 to 2 2 to 4 mo. Aug. to Nov. Guinea fowl 3 to 5 6 mo. to 1 yr. Oct. to Mar.

26. SELECTION OF GUINEA FOWLS.--Guinea fowls are coming into common use as food. The young birds are preferable to the older ones. They are ready for the market in early autumn, while the old birds may be procured at any time. The breast meat of guinea fowls is almost as light as that of chicken, but all the meat of this bird has a gamy taste, which is absent in the chicken. If this particular flavor is much desired, it may be developed to even a greater degree by allowing the bird to hang after killing until the meat begins to "turn," that is, become "high." Such meat, however, is not usually desirable in the ordinary menu.

27. SELECTION OF PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, AND QUAIL.--Pheasant, partridge, and quail are usually considered game birds, but certain varieties are being extensively domesticated and bred for market. Such birds are small and are used more in the nature of a delicacy than as a common article of food.

28. TABLE OF POULTRY AND GAME.--In Table I are given the market names of the various kinds of poultry and game birds, as well as the corresponding age, the weight, and the season of the year when they are most desirable. This table will serve as a guide in selecting poultry that is to be used as food.

COMPOSITION OF POULTRY

29. The composition of poultry is very similar to that of meats. In fact, poultry is composed of protein, fat, water, mineral salts, and extractives that do not differ materially from those found in meats. The protein, which usually varies from 15 to 20 per cent., is a much more constant factor than the fat, which varies from 8 to 40 per cent. This variation, of course, makes the total food value high in some kinds of poultry and low in others. For instance, in a young broiler that has not been fattened, the food value is extremely low; whereas, in a mature well-fattened bird, such as a goose, which increases very markedly in fatty tissue after reaching maturity, it is extremely high. A factor that detracts considerably from the edible portion of poultry is the waste material, or refuse. This consists of the bones, cartilage, head, feet, and entrails, or inedible internal organs. The greater the proportion of such waste material, the more the total nutritive value of the flesh is reduced. It is claimed that birds that have light-colored flesh do not become so fat as those which have dark flesh. This, of course, makes their nutritive value less, because the fat of poultry is what serves to supply a large part of the nutrition. There is no particular difference, as is commonly supposed, between the red and white meat of poultry. The difference in color is due to a difference in the blood supply, but this does not affect the composition to any extent.

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PREPARATION OF POULTRY FOR COOKING

PREPARATION OF CHICKEN

30. As has been implied, poultry must be properly prepared before it is ready for cooking; likewise, the method of cookery determines how it must be prepared. For example, if it is to be roasted, it must be drawn; if it is to be stewed, it must be drawn and cut into suitable pieces; and so on. The various steps that must be taken to make poultry suitable for cooking are therefore considered here in detail.

31. DRESSING A CHICKEN.--Although, as has been shown, the housewife does not have to dress the chicken that she is to cook--that is, kill and pluck it--there may be times when she will be called on to perform this task or at least direct it. A common way of killing chicken in the home is simply to grasp it firmly by the legs, lay it on a block, and then chop the head off with a sharp hatchet or a cleaver. If this plan is followed, the beheaded chicken must be held firmly until the blood has drained away and the reflex action that sets in has ceased. Otherwise, there is danger of becoming splashed with blood.

32. After a chicken has been killed, the first step in its preparation, no matter how it is to be cooked, consists in removing the feathers, or _plucking_ it, as this operation is called. Plucking can be done dry by simply pulling out the feathers. However, a bird can be plucked more readily if it is first immersed in water at the boiling point for a few minutes. Such water has a tendency to loosen the feathers so that they can be pulled from the skin easily. Unless the chicken is to be used at once, though, dry plucking is preferable to the other method. Care should be taken not to tear or mar the skin in plucking, and the operation is best performed by pulling out the feathers a few at a time, with a quick jerk. In a young chicken, small feathers, commonly called pin feathers, are apt to remain in the skin after plucking. These may be pulled out by pinching each with the point of a knife pressed against the thumb and then giving a quick jerk.

33. Whether live poultry is dressed by a local butcher or in the home, the length of time it should be kept after killing demands attention. Such poultry should either be cooked before rigor mortis, or the stiffening of the muscles, has had time to begin, or be allowed to remain in a cool place long enough for this to pass off and the muscles to become tender again. Naturally, if this softening, or ripening, process, as it is sometimes called, goes on too long, decomposition will set in, with the usual harmful effects if the meat is used as food.

34. SINGEING A CHICKEN.--On all chickens except very young ones, whether they are home dressed or not, hairs will be found on the skin; and, as has been mentioned, the older the bird the more hair will it have. The next step in preparing a chicken for cooking, therefore, is to singe it, or burn off these hairs. However, before singeing, provided the head has not been removed, cut it off just where the neck begins, using a kitchen cleaver or a butcher knife, as in Fig. 3. To singe a dressed chicken, grasp it by the head or the neck and the feet and then revolve it over a gas flame, as shown in Fig. 4, or a burning piece of paper for a few seconds or just long enough to burn off the hairs without scorching the skin. After singeing, wash the skin thoroughly with a cloth and warm water, as shown in Fig. 5. Then it will be ready for drawing and cutting up.

35. DRAWING A CHICKEN.--By drawing a chicken is meant the taking out of the entrails and removing all parts that are not edible. Although this work will be done by some butchers, the better plan is to do it at home, for, as has been stated, chicken or any other poultry must be cooked very soon after the entrails are removed. Chicken that is to be roasted is always prepared in this way, as the cavity that remains may be filled with stuffing. Drawing is also necessary when chicken is to be cooked in any other way, as by stewing or frying, but in addition it must be cut up. The procedure in drawing a chicken is simple, but some practice is required before deftness will result.

36. In order to draw a chicken, carefully cut a lengthwise slit through the skin on the neck, and slip the fingers down around the _crop_, which is a small sack that holds the food eaten by the chicken. Then pull the crop out, and with it the windpipe, as in Fig. 6, taking pains not to tear the skin nor to break the crop.

Next, remove the tendons, or thick white cords, from the legs, so as to improve the meat. These may be easily removed, especially from a chicken that is freshly killed; that is, one in which the flesh is still moist. Simply cut through the skin, just above the foot, as in Fig. 7, being careful not to cut the tendons that lie just beneath the skin; then slip a skewer or some other small, dull implement, as a fork, under the tendons, pull down toward the foot until they loosen at the second joint, and pull them out. This operation is clearly shown in Fig. 8. With the tendons removed, the feet may be cut off. To do this, cut through the skin where the two bones join, as shown in Fig. 9. As the joint separates, cut through the remaining tendons and skin on the back of the legs.

37. Proceed, next, to cut a crosswise slit through the skin between the legs at a point above the vent, as in Fig. 10, so that the entrails may be removed. This slit should be just large enough to admit the hand and no larger. Insert the fingers of one hand in this slit and gently move them around the mass of the internal organs, keeping them close to the framework of the bird. This will loosen the entrails at the points where they are attached to the body. Then, inserting the hand, slip the fingers around the mass at the top, near the neck, and with one pull remove the entire internal contents, as Fig. 11 shows. The lungs, or lights, as they are sometimes called, do not come out with this mass. They will be found covered with a membrane and tightly fastened inside the breast bone, and must be removed by pulling them out with the tips of the fingers. After the entrails are removed, pour clean cold water into the cavity, rinse it well several times, and pour the water out.

38. Among the contents drawn from the chicken will be found the heart, the liver, and the gizzard. These are called the _giblets_. They are the only edible internal organs, and must be separated from the rest. To do this, squeeze the blood from the heart, and then cut the large vessels off close to the top of it. Then cut the liver away. In handling this part of the giblets extreme care must be taken, for tightly attached to it, as Fig. 12 shows, is the _gall bladder_, which is a tiny sack filled with green fluid, called bile. If this sack breaks, anything that its contents touches will become very bitter and therefore unfit to eat. The gall bag should be cut out of the liver above the place where it is attached, so as to be certain that it does not break nor lose any of the bile. Next, remove the gizzard, which consists of a fleshy part surrounding a sack containing partly digested food eaten by the chicken. First trim off any surplus fat, and carefully cut through the fleshy part just to the surface of the inside sack. Then pull the outside fleshy part away from the sack without breaking it, as in Fig. 13, an operation that can be done if the work is performed carefully. After removing the giblets and preparing them as explained, wash them well, so that they may be used with the rest of the chicken. As a final step, cut out the _oil sack_, which lies just above the tail, proceeding in the manner illustrated in Fig. 14.

39. CUTTING UP A CHICKEN.--When chicken that has been drawn is to be fried, stewed, fricasseed, or cooked in some similar way, it must be cut into suitable pieces. In order to do this properly, it is necessary to learn to locate the joints and to be able to cut squarely between the two bones where they are attached to each other. To sever the legs from the body of the chicken, first cut through the skin underneath each leg where it is attached to the body, as in Fig. 15, bend the leg back far enough to break the joint, and then cut through it, severing the entire leg in one piece. When the legs are cut off, cut each one apart at the joint between the thigh and the lower part, as in Fig. 16, making two pieces. To sever the wings from the body, cut through the skin where the wing is attached, as in Fig. 17, and bend it back until the joint breaks. Then cut it off where the ends of the bones are attached to the joint. When both legs and both wings are removed, proceed to cut the body apart. As shown in Fig. 18, place the chicken, neck down, on a table, and cut down through the ribs parallel with the breast and the back, until the knife strikes a hard bone that it cannot cut. Then firmly grasp the breast with one hand and the back with the other and break the joints that attach these parts by pulling the back and the breast away from each other, as in Fig. 19. Cut through the joints, as in Fig. 20, so that the back, ribs, and neck will be in one piece and the breast in another. [Illustration: Fig. 23] If desired, the breast may be divided into two pieces by cutting it in the manner shown in Fig. 21; also, as the back will break at the end of the ribs, it may be cut into two pieces there. Finally, cut the neck from the top piece of the back, as in Fig. 22.

The pieces of chicken thus procured may be rinsed clean with cold water, but they should never be allowed to stand in water, because this will draw out some of the extractives, or flavoring material, soluble albumin, and mineral salts.

40. PREPARING CHICKEN FEET.--Many persons consider that chicken feet are not worth while for food. This, however, is a mistaken idea, for they will add to the flavor of soup stock or they may be cooked with the giblets to make stock for gravy. Chicken feet do not contain much meat, but what little there is has an excellent flavor and should be removed for use when creamed chicken or any dish made with left-over chicken is to be cooked.

To prepare chicken feet for use as food, scrub the feet well and pour boiling water over them. After a minute or two, remove them from the water and rub them with a clean cloth to peel off the scaly skin, as shown in Fig. 23. Finally remove the nails by bending them back.

41. UTILIZING THE WING TIPS.--The last joint, or tip, of chicken wings has no value as food, but, like the feet, it will help to add flavor to any stock that is made. This small piece of wing may be removed and then cooked with the feet and giblets.

PREPARATION OF POULTRY OTHER THAN CHICKEN

42. PREPARATION OF TURKEY.--The preparation of a plucked turkey for cooking is almost identically the same as that of a plucked chicken. Begin the preparation by singeing it; that is, hold it over a flame and turn it so that all the hairs on the skin will be burned off. Then look the skin over carefully, remove any pin feathers that may not have been removed in plucking, and wash it thoroughly. Next, cut off the head, leaving as much of the neck as possible. Draw the tendons from the legs as in preparing chicken; the ease with which this can be done will depend greatly on the length of time the turkey has been killed. Then cut off the legs at the first joint above the foot.

Having prepared the external part of the turkey, proceed to draw it. First, remove the crop by cutting a slit lengthwise in the neck over the crop, catching it with the fingers, and pulling it out. Next, cut a slit between the legs, below the breast bone, and draw out the internal organs. Clean and retain the giblets. Remove the lungs, wash out the cavity in the turkey, and cut off the oil bag on the back, just above the tail.

Turkey prepared in this way is ready to stuff and roast. It is never cut into pieces in the ordinary household until it has been cooked and is ready to serve. Directions for carving are therefore given later.

43. PREPARATION OF DUCK AND GOOSE.--The preparation of duck and goose for cooking does not differ materially from that of turkey or chicken. Like turkey, duck or goose is generally roasted and not cut up until it is ready to serve. It will be well to note that young ducks are covered with small feathers, or down, which is very difficult to remove. However, the down may be removed by pulling it out with a small knife pressed against the thumb. When the down is removed, proceed with the preparation. Singe, wash, remove the head and feet, draw, wash the inside of the bird, and remove the oil sack. Goose may be prepared for cooking in the same way.

44. PREPARATION OF SMALL BIRDS.--Squabs, partridge, pheasant, and other small birds are usually cooked by broiling. To prepare such a bird for cooking, singe, remove any small feathers that may remain, wash, remove the head and feet, and draw, following the directions given for drawing chicken. When it is thus cleaned, lay the bird open. To do this, begin at the neck and cut down the back along the spine. If desired, however, the bird may be cut down the back before drawing and the entrails removed through the cut down the back. Finally, wash the inside and wipe it dry, when the bird will be ready for broiling.

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COOKING OF POULTRY

COOKERY METHODS

45. With poultry, as in the case of meats of any kind, it is the composition that determines the method of cookery; and, as the structure and composition of the tissue of poultry do not differ materially from those of meats, the application of the various cooking methods is practically the same. Young and tender birds that have comparatively little flesh, such as young chickens, squabs, and guinea fowl, are usually prepared by such rapid methods as frying and broiling. Medium-sized poultry, including chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks, and geese, require more cooking, and this, of course, must be done at a lower temperature; therefore, such poultry is generally roasted. Old poultry, particularly old chicken, or fowl, which is apt to be tough, requires still more cooking, and for this reason is stewed, braized, or fricasseed. The recipes for the cooking of various kinds of poultry here given will serve to make clear the cookery method to employ, as well as how to carry it out to advantage.

PREPARATION BY BROILING

46. The method of broiling in the case of poultry of all kinds does not differ in any way from the same method applied to cuts of meat. Since broiling is a rapid method of cookery and heat is applied at a high temperature, it is necessary that the poultry chosen for broiling be young and tender and have a comparatively small amount of meat on the bones.

Broiled poultry is not an economical dish, neither is it one in which the greatest possible amount of flavor is obtained, since, as in the case of the meat of animals used for food, the flavor develops with the age of the birds. However, broiled poultry has value in the diet of invalids and persons with poor appetite and digestion, for if it is properly done it is appetizing and easily digested.

47. BROILED POULTRY.--Poultry that is to be broiled must first be dressed, drawn, and cleaned. Then, as has been mentioned for the preparation of small birds, lay the bird open by cutting down along the spine, beginning at the neck, as shown in Fig. 24. This will permit the bird to be spread apart, as in Fig. 25. When it is thus made ready, washed, and wiped dry, heat the broiler and grease it. Then place the bird on the broiler in the manner shown in Fig. 26 and expose it to severe heat. Sear quickly on one side, and turn and sear on the other side. Then reduce the heat to a lower temperature and broil more slowly, turning often. To prevent burning, the parts that stand up close to the flame may be covered with strips of bacon fastened on with skewers; also, to get the best results, the side of the bird on which the flesh is thick should be exposed to the heat for a greater length of time than the other side. If there is any danger of the high places burning in the broiler, the bird may be removed and the cooking continued in a hot oven. Broiled poultry should be well done when served. This means, then, particularly in the case of chickens, that the broiling process should be carried on for about 20 minutes. When the bird is properly cooked, remove it from the broiler, place it on a hot platter, dot it with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, garnish, and serve.

PREPARATION BY FRYING

48. As has been mentioned, birds slightly older and larger than those used for broiling should be fried, because frying is a slower method and gives the flesh a more thorough cooking. However, most of the dishes commonly known as fried poultry are not fried, but sauted in shallow fat. The same principles employed in sauteing any food are applied in the cooking of poultry by this method; that is, the surface is seared as quickly as possible and the cooking is finished at a lower temperature. Often in this cooking process, the pieces to be sauted are dipped into batter or rolled in flour to assist in keeping the juices in the meat.