Four and twenty blackbirds

Latest Articles

Four and twenty blackbirds
Page 1, 2 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Shooting and Trapping for the Pot

Author

Message

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 8:59 am Post subject: Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie !

Our forefathers and mothers of course, obviously use to have eat just about everything and anything they could lay there hands on.
Whilst a lot of things are better off fluttering or hopping about out there in the wild , what would you try and what have you tried eating ?

In Victorian times they use to net the ivy on the houses to harvest the sparrows, a bit fiddley, but whilst sparrow pie I could visualize, on the other hand, Frog Pate!

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22790
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 9:03 am Post subject:
What's wrong with frogs' legs? They're nice with a really garlicky sauce.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22790
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 9:04 am Post subject:
How does a sparrow compare with a quail size-wise?

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 9:12 am Post subject:

Heard of the saying " sparrow legs" ? There's nothing on em !

Can you imagine how many sparrows must have gone into a pie ? Dozens if not hundreds I would imagine.
I suppose blackbirds would have been a much better bet but I know where I would rather see my blackbirsds . On the lawn with my much beloved song thrushes.
The arrival of flocks of field fares in the winter must have been a much welcomed boost to the country larder, hence the use of the word fare in the birds name.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 9:44 am Post subject:
Theres one theory that the blackbirds in the nursery rhyme are more likely to be rooklings. Sparrow, I'm told, is rather delicious. Apparently the bones almost melt in the mouth after crunching on them.

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 9:57 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

Sparrow, I'm told, is rather delicious. Apparently the bones almost melt in the mouth after crunching on them.

Sounds delightful

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 10:07 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

Theres one theory that the blackbirds in the nursery rhyme are more likely to be rooklings.

Sparrow, I'm told, is rather delicious. Apparently the bones almost melt in the mouth after crunching on them.

You are probably right about the rook thing.

Blackbirds feed on quite a nice diet , I would expect them to be reasonable.
I tried Moorhen once in my youth and that was yuk. In the past people use to collect their eggs to eat, they are one of those birds that lay an egg that is far bigger than their body size suggests.

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 11:39 am Post subject:

I would like to try pheasant and pigeon. have had and like venision. Have eaten ostrich (there is a farm near here that have a stall in the farmers market) but didn't like that much - it has quite an offaly taste. Have had swordfish which I didn't like. I'm not especailly fond of rabbit but goat and mutton are ok. Think I would give most things a try, can't hurt to try. Have to admit by being very tempted by snails after the threads here. my daughter has a real thing for snails though, doubt she'd eat them somehow.

I would like to be able to raise, kill and eat my own chickens but we are unable to keep a cock and had no luck with bought hatching eggs

I really need to find somewhere closer so they won't have to go in the post

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 11:56 am Post subject:
Pheasant and pigeon is scrummy but so is rabbit. You may have had a bad experience with bunny , but it is fairly bland , the way I would class chicken. There are myriads of fantastic really tasty recipes for rabbit so I would urge you to try it again. Instead of hatching eggs, have you considered purchasing day old meat chickens ?

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 12:10 pm Post subject:
Bunny burgers - yummmmmm

KILLITnGRILLIT

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 894
Location: Looking at a screen in the front room

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 2:25 pm Post subject:

2steps wrote:

I would like to try pheasant and pigeon.

Then why not go to your nearest shoot and ask the gamekeeper if you could buy a brace.
At the end of the last season I bought 10 brace for the huge sum of �5,which at that time of the season was the going rate.

As for woodpigeon they go for anything from 10-40p each into the gamedealers.Ask at any gunshop if they know of a local woodpigeon shooter that may be willing to provide you with some.

Best of Luck

alisjs

Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1497
Location: Conwy

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 3:04 pm Post subject:
I once had chickens feet stew in Singapore.... tasty gravy but there`s no chewing those feet...inedible!

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 3:17 pm Post subject:

Bodger, I tried looking for some day olds last year but couldn't find anywhere close enough to me and as I don't drive transport was a problem. I'm hoping next spring, that as my daughter is in full time rather than part time school I will be able to go to a place about 15 miles away

Killitngrillit, I didn't know it was possible. Is a brace a whole bird? and how would I find out where my nearest shoot is? sounds like an ideal solution

Silas

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 6848
Location: Staffordshire

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 3:29 pm Post subject:
"If you can tell me how many pheasants I have hidden in this sack, I'll give you both of them!" A brace is a pair of birds.

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 06 3:53 pm Post subject:
Sparrows have got to be nicer than either curlew or kittiwake, both of which I've eaten and found to be quite disgusting. The kittiwake, perehaps not surprisingly, tasted as if it had been marinated in rancid cod-liver oil. The curlew was very bitter (as, I suppose, I would be at being eaten ).

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Shooting and Trapping for the Pot	All times are GMT Page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

View Latest Posts