The Book of Household Management Part 125

1048. INGREDIENTS.--Teal, b.u.t.ter, a little flour.

_Mode_.--Choose fat plump birds, after the frost has set in, as they are generally better flavoured; truss them in the same manner as wild duck, No. 1022; roast them before a brisk fire, and keep them well basted.

Serve with brown or orange gravy, water-cresses, and a cut lemon. The remains of teal make excellent hash.

_Time_.--From 9 to 15 minutes.

_Average cost_, 1s. each; but seldom bought.

_Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.

_Seasonable_ from October to February.

ROAST HAUNCH OF VENISON.

1049. INGREDIENTS.--Venison, coa.r.s.e flour-and-water paste, a little flour.

_Mode_.--Choose a haunch with clear, bright, and thick fat, and the cleft of the hoof smooth and close; the greater quant.i.ty of fat there is, the better quality will the meat be. As many people object to venison when it has too much _haut got_, ascertain how long it has been kept, by running a sharp skewer into the meat close to the bone; when this is withdrawn, its sweetness can be judged of. With care and attention, it will keep good a fortnight, unless the weather is very mild. Keep it perfectly dry by wiping it with clean cloths till not the least damp remains, and sprinkle over powdered ginger or pepper, as a preventative against the fly. When required for use, wash it in warm water, and _dry_ it _well_ with a cloth; b.u.t.ter a sheet of white paper, put it over the fat, lay a coa.r.s.e paste, about 1/2 inch in thickness, over this, and then a sheet or two of strong paper. Tie the whole firmly on to the haunch with twine, and put the joint down to a strong close fire; baste the venison immediately, to prevent the paper and string from burning, and continue this operation, without intermission, the whole of the time it is cooking. About 20 minutes before it is done, carefully remove the paste and paper, dredge the joint with flour, and baste well with _b.u.t.ter_ until it is nicely frothed, and of a nice pale-brown colour; garnish the knuckle-bone with a frill of white paper, and serve with a good, strong, but unflavoured gravy, in a tureen, and currant jelly; or melt the jelly with a little port wine, and serve that also in a tureen. As the princ.i.p.al object in roasting venison is to preserve the fat, the above is the best mode of doing so where expense is not objected to; but, in ordinary cases, the paste may be dispensed with, and a double paper placed over the roast instead: it will not require so long cooking without the paste. Do not omit to send very hot plates to table, as the venison fat so soon freezes: to be thoroughly enjoyed by epicures, it should be eaten on hot-water plates. The neck and shoulder may be roasted in the same manner.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAST HAUNCH OF VENISON.]

_Time_.--A large haunch of buck venison, with the paste, 4 to 5 hours; haunch of doe venison, 3-1/4 to 3-3/4 hours. Allow less time without the paste.

_Average cost_, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 18 persons.

_Seasonable_.--Buck venison in greatest perfection from June to Michaelmas; doe venison from November to the end of January.

THE DEER.--This active tribe of animals princ.i.p.ally inhabit wild and woody regions. In their contentions, both with each other and the rest of the brute creation, these animals not only use their horns, but strike very furiously with their fore feet.

Some of the species are employed as beasts of draught, whilst the flesh of the whole is wholesome, and that of some of the kinds, under the name of "venison," is considered very delicious. Persons fond of hunting have invented peculiar terms by which the objects of their pursuit are characterized: thus the stag is called, the first year, a _calf_, or _hind-calf_; the second, a _k.n.o.bber_; the third, a _brock_; the fourth, a _staggard_; the fifth, a _stag_; and the sixth, a _hart_. The female is, the first year, called a _calf_; the second, a _hea.r.s.e_; and the third, a _hind_. In Britain, the stag has become scarcer than it formerly was; but, in the Highlands of Scotland, herds of four or five hundred may still be seen, ranging over the vast mountains of the north; and some of the stags of a great size. In former times, the great feudal chieftains used to hunt with all the pomp of eastern sovereigns, a.s.sembling some thousands of their clans, who drove the deer into the toils, or to such stations as were occupied by their chiefs. As this sport, however, was occasionally used as a means for collecting their va.s.sals together for the purpose of concocting rebellion, an act was pa.s.sed prohibitory of such a.s.semblages. In the "Waverley" of Sir Walter Scott, a deer-hunting scene of this kind is admirably described.

VENISON.--This is the name given to the flesh of some kinds of deer, and is esteemed as very delicious. Different species of deer are found in warm as well as cold climates, and are in several instances invaluable to man. This is especially the case with the Laplander, whose reindeer const.i.tutes a large proportion of his wealth. There--

"The reindeer unharness'd in freedom can play, And safely o'er Odin's steep precipice stray, Whilst the wolf to the forest recesses may fly, And howl to the moon as she glides through the sky."

In that country it is the subst.i.tute for the horse, the cow, the goat, and the sheep. From its milk is produced cheese; from its skin, clothing; from its tendons, bowstrings and thread; from its horns, glue; from its bones, spoons; and its flesh furnishes food. In England we have the stag, an animal of great beauty, and much admired. He is a native of many parts of Europe, and is supposed to have been originally introduced into this country from France. About a century back he was to be found wild in some of the rough and mountainous parts of Wales, as well as in the forests of Exmoor, in Devons.h.i.+re, and the woods on the banks of the Tamar. In the middle ages the deer formed food for the not over abstemious monks, as represented by Friar Tuck's larder, in the admirable fiction of "Ivanhoe;" and at a later period it was a deer-stealing adventure that drove the "ingenious" William Shakspeare to London, to become a common player, and the greatest dramatist that ever lived.

HASHED VENISON.

1050. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of roast venison, its own or mutton gravy, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour.

_Mode_.--Cut the meat from the bones in neat slices, and, if there is sufficient of its own gravy left, put the meat into this, as it is preferable to any other. Should there not be enough, put the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a stewpan, with about a pint of mutton gravy; let them stew gently for an hour, and strain the gravy. Put a little flour and b.u.t.ter into the stewpan, keep stirring until brown, then add the strained gravy, and give it a boil up; skim and strain again, and, when a little cool, put in the slices of venison. Place the stewpan by the side of the fire, and, when on the point of simmering, serve: do not allow it to boil, or the meat will be hard. Send red-currant jelly to table with it.

_Time_.--Altogether, 1-1/2 hour.

_Seasonable_.--Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.

_Note_.--A small quant.i.ty of Harvey's sauce, ketchup, or port wine, may be added to enrich the gravy: these ingredients must, however, be used very sparingly, or they will overpower the flavour of the venison.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FALLOW-DEER (BUCK). FALLOW-DEER (DOE).]

THE FALLOW-DEER.--This is the domestic or park deer; and no two animals can make a nearer approach to each other than the stag and it, and yet no two animals keep more distinct, or avoid each other with a more inveterate animosity. They never herd or intermix together, and consequently never give rise to an intermediate race; it is even rare, unless they have been transported thither, to find fellow-deer in a country where stags are numerous. He is very easily tamed, and feeds upon many things which the stag refuses: he also browzes closer than the stag, and preserves his venison better. The doe produces one fawn, sometimes two, but rarely three. In short, they resemble the stag in all his natural habits, and the greatest difference between them is the duration of their lives: the stag, it is said, lives to the age of thirty-five or forty years, and the fallow-deer does not live more than twenty. As they are smaller than the stag, it is probable that their growth is sooner completed.

STEWED VENISON.

1051. INGREDIENTS.--A shoulder of venison, a few slices of mutton fat, 2 gla.s.ses of port wine, pepper and allspice to taste, 1-1/2 pint of weak stock or gravy, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole allspice.

_Mode_.--Hang the venison till tender; take out the bone, flatten the meat with a rolling-pin, and place over it a few slices of mutton fat, which have been previously soaked for 2 or 3 hours in port wine; sprinkle these with a little fine allspice and pepper, roll the meat up, and bind and tie it securely. Put it into a stewpan with the bone and the above proportion of weak stock or gravy, whole allspice, black pepper, and port wine; cover the lid down closely, and simmer, very gently, from 3-1/2 to 4 hours. When quite tender, take off the tape, and dish the meat; strain the gravy over it, and send it to table with red-currant jelly. Unless the joint is very fat, the above is the best mode of cooking it.

_Time_.--3-1/2 to 4 hours.

_Average cost_, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 10 or 12 persons.

_Seasonable_.--Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ROEBUCK.]

THE ROEBUCK.--This is the _Certuscapreolus_, or common roe, and is of a reddish-brown colour. It is an inhabitant of Asia, as well as of Europe. It has great grace in its movements, and stands about two feet seven inches high, and has a length of about three feet nine. The extent of its horns is from six to eight inches.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE STAG. THE HIND.]

THE STAG.--The stag, or hart, is the male of the red deer, and the hind is the female. He is much larger than the fallow-deer, and his age is indicated by his horns, which are round instead of being palmated, like those of the fallow-deer. During the first year he has no horns, but a h.o.r.n.y excrescence, which is short and rough, and covered with a thin hairy skin. The next year, the horns are single and straight; and in the third they have two antlers, three the fourth, four the fifth, and five the sixth year; although this number is not always certain, for sometimes they are more, and often less. After the sixth year, the antlers do not always increase; and, although in number they may amount to six or seven on each side, yet the animal's age is then estimated rather by the size of the antlers and the thickness of the branch which sustains them, than by their variety. Large as these horns seem, however, they are shed every year, and their place supplied by new ones. This usually takes place in the spring. When the old horns have fallen off, the new ones do not make their appearance immediately; but the bones of the skull ore seen covered with a transparent periosteum, or skin, which enwraps the bones of all animals. After a short time, however, the skin begins to swell, and to form a sort of tumour. From this, by-and-by, rising from the head, shoot forth the antlers from each side; and, in a short time, in proportion as the animal is in condition, the entire horns are completed.

The solidity of the extremities, however, is not perfect until the horns have arrived at their full growth. Old stags usually shed their horns first, which generally happens towards the latter end of February or the beginning of March. Such as are between five and six years old shed them about the middle or latter end of March; those still younger in the month of April; and the youngest of all not till the middle or latter end of May. These rules, though generally true, are subject to variations; for a severe winter will r.e.t.a.r.d the shedding of the horns.--The HIND has no horns, and is less fitted for being hunted than the male. She takes the greatest care of her young, and secretes them in the most obscure thickets, lest they become a prey to their numerous enemies. All the rapacious family of the cat kind, with the wolf, the dog, the eagle, and the falcon, are continually endeavouring to find her retreat, whilst the stag himself is the foe of his own offspring. When she has young, therefore, it would seem that the courage of the male is transferred to the female, for she defends them with the most resolute bravery. If pursued by the hunter, she will fly before the hounds for half the day, and then return to her young, whose life she has thus preserved at the hazard of her own.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELAND (BULL). ELAND (COW).]

THE NEW VENISON.--The deer population of our splendid English parks was, until a few years since, limited to two species, the fallow and the red. But as the fallow-deer itself was an acclimated animal, of comparatively recent introduction, it came to be a question why might not the proprietor of any deer-park in England have the luxury of at least half a dozen species of deer and antelopes, to adorn the hills, dales, ferny brakes, and rich pastures of his domain? The temperate regions of the whole world might be made to yield specimens of the n.o.ble ruminant, valuable either for their individual beauty, or for their availability to gastronomic purposes.

During the last four or live years a few spirited English n.o.blemen have made the experiment of breeding foreign deer in their parks, and have obtained such a decided success, that it may be hoped their example will induce others to follow in a course which will eventually give to England's rural scenery a new element of beauty, and to English tables a fresh viand of the choicest character.

A practical solution of this interesting question was made by Viscount Hill, at Hawkestone Park, Salop, in January, 1809. On that occasion a magnificent eland, an acclimated scion of the species whose native home is the South African wilderness, was killed for the table. The n.o.ble beast was thus described:--"He weighed 1,176 lbs. as he dropped; huge as a short-horn, but with bone not half the size; active as a deer, stately in all his paces, perfect in form, bright in colour, with a vast dewlap, and strong sculptured horn. This eland in his lifetime strode majestic on the hill-side, where he dwelt with his mates and their progeny, all English-born, like himself." Three pairs of the same species of deer were left to roam at large on the picturesque elopes throughout the day, and to return to their home at pleasure. "Here, during winter, they are a.s.sisted with roots and hay, but in summer they have nothing but the pasture of the park; so that, in point of expense, they cost no more than cattle of the best description." Travellers and sportsmen say that the male eland is unapproached in the quality of his flesh by any ruminant in South Africa; that it grows to an enormous size, and lays on fat with as great facility as a true short-horn; while in texture and flavour it is infinitely superior. The lean is remarkably fine, the fat firm and delicate. It was tried in every fas.h.i.+on,--braised brisket, roasted ribs, broiled steaks, filet saute, boiled aitchbone, &c.,--and in all, gave evidence of the fact, that a new meat of surpa.s.sing value had been added to the products of the English park.

When we hear such a gratifying account of the eland, it is pleasing to record that Lord Hastings has a herd of the Canadian wapiti, a herd of Indian nylghaus, and another of the small Indian hog-deer; that the Earl of Ducie has been successful in breeding the magnificent Persian deer. The eland was first acclimated in England by the late Earl of Derby, between the years 1835-1851, at his menagerie at Knowsley. On his death, in 1851, he bequeathed to the Zoological Society his breed of elands, consisting of two males and three females. Here the animals have been treated with the greatest success, and from the year 1853 to the present time, the females have regularly reproduced, without the loss of a single calf.

ROAST WIDGEON.

1052. INGREDIENTS.--Widgeons, a little flour, b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--These are trussed in the same manner as wild duck, No. 1022, but must not be kept so long before they are dressed. Put them down to a brisk fire; flour, and baste them continually with b.u.t.ter, and, when browned and nicely frothed, send them to table hot and quickly. Serve with brown gravy, or orange gravy, No. 488, and a cut lemon.

_Time_.--1/4 hour; if liked well done, 20 minutes.

_Average cost_, 1s. each; but seldom bought.

_Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.