Suzi and I have a lot cookbooks. A few thousand. Some of them are even older than I am. Now, technically, this book is not older than me. It’s from 1988, a revision to the 1979 Beard edition, which itself was a rewrite of his original 1944 Fowl and Game. This is, in short, an historic book.
You can glean so much from this work. American food history is on display. In 1944, with the Depression over but the Second World War still on full force, chickens were NOT common food. That is why FDR talked about a chicken in every pot, because chicken was luxury. You had to search to find them. You were more likely to go to a farm or live poultry store and have your chicken killed on the spot.
By the time Beard did his revisions, we had mass market chicken and you could start to buy chicken parts. Yes, a package of boned chicken breasts!
For Beard, “birds” meant birds, all the birds. So here you will find chapters devoted to:
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Duck
- Squab and Pigeon
- Goose
- Pheasant
- Quail
- Partridge
- Snip and Woodcock
- Dove
Yes, there is a bird called a snipe. No, Suzi and I are not cooking one.
I think we’re pretty much sticking with that chicken and turkey with some duck and the occasional quail. There’s plenty to fascinate you here. And in the course of looking at the book you see the genius of James Beard and his forward thinking.
Why, in this “old” book you can find:
Chicken Yucatan
Turkey Mole
Superb Chicken Hash
Sauté of Quail with White Grapes
Poached Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Onion, Shallot and Tarragon and Served with Lemon Cream Sauce
And then there is the Braised Turkey with Truffles. This turkey is stuffed with pork and veal that have been cooked in a liberal amount of cognac and veggies. It’s a recipe worthy of any Thanksgiving table.
The great thing about Beard on Birds, besides all those bird types, is the array of cooking techniques and ideas employed here. You will find recipes to sauté, fry, poach, braise, broil, roast, bake, and barbeque. You’ll find ideas for casseroles and fricassees. You will experience the full range of cooking ideas expressed by an American master, James Beard. The world is vastly different than 1944. This book is as pertinent as ever.