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Given that city dwellers are only aware of the vermin that despoil our buildings and generally make a nuisance of themselves, it is not entirely surprising that the English have an ambivalent attitude to pigeons. Country people still retain an affection for the wily wood pigeon and will approach them with relish. Traditionally a wood pigeon was stewed, often with braising steak, and put in a pie or pudding: these days they are more often taken off the bone – a mistake in my view – and cooked very lightly. They are flavoursome, if a little lean.
Squab pigeons, however, are still rarely seen here: both market and production are low and few understand that they are something of a luxury. These plump little birds are juicy and tender and well wrapped in a reasonably fatty skin that makes them remarkably simple birds to cook. I once had to cook 200 squab for a large banquet and experimented with varying cooking times, cooking some quite pink, as is the convention, cooking some medium and even braising them gently with a little wine for 40 minutes. In the end I stuck with convention and resolved to serve them all pink, but the more cooked birds were very tasty and remained very tender.
Whether country people in France always undercooked their pigeons I am not sure but there is no doubt that, as in Spain and Italy, these birds are revered. If you really want to make a Frenchman of a certain age go rheumy eyed with nostalgia for the food of his upbringing, you only have to mention pigeonneaux aux petits pois. It is an atavistic dish and one as close to his heart as apple pie to an American or chicken tikka masala to any right-thinking Englishman.
Another cultural difference will be in the treatment of peas. By and large, the English expect their peas to be bright green and are perfectly happy to eat them frozen; the French liked them cooked to a dull but tasty olive green and are equally happy to eat them out of a tin.
Neither is more correct than the other but, in this instance, I urge you to try the French way.
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Rowley Leigh is the chef at Le Café Anglais
Twitter @lecafeanglais; [email protected].
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Pigeon with peas
Ingredients
A brace of pigeons makes a nice dinner for two; one can obviously increase accordingly.
75g pancetta or other bacon, in a block
50g butter
1 little gem or similar lettuce
6 spring onions
750g peas in their pods
200ml white wine
2 plump squab pigeons, 450g each
1 shallot
A few sprigs of thyme
100ml chicken stock (or half a cube)
● Cut the pancetta into slices 2mm-3mm thick, snip off the rinds and cut the slices into little strips 2cm-3cm long. Save the rinds. Melt a knob of butter in a small saucepan and stew the pancetta strips gently so that they slowly colour and crisp. Trim and wash the lettuce, quarter it and then add it to the pancetta. Trim the spring onions at the base and cut them halfway down, saving the tops for another use. Add these in turn to the pan. Let these stew for five minutes before adding the podded peas and half the white wine and an equal quantity of water. Cover with a piece of buttered paper and stew very gently for 20-25 minutes.
● Remove the wing tips, the necks and the wishbones from the pigeons, without losing the flap of skin that will protect the front end of the bird during the cooking. Render the pork rinds in a little butter for a couple of minutes in a small casserole before adding the pigeons, breast-side down, to the pan. Let them colour on all sides before seasoning with a little salt, then add the necks and wing tips around the birds. Place them in a 200C oven for 12-14 minutes, then remove and let the birds rest in a warm place, breast-side down.
● Add the roughly chopped shallot to the detritus in the casserole and let it stew in the rendered fat. After a couple of minutes add the thyme and white wine. Scrape up all the juices in the pan and reduce the wine by half before adding the stock. Let this simmer gently for 10 minutes before stirring in a knob of butter, seasoning and then straining the gravy into a little sauceboat.
● Reheat the peas. Remove the legs and breasts of the pigeons, arrange them on a bed of peas, then moisten with the gravy.
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Rowley’s drinking choice
This dish should flatter most red wine, although the fat of the pigeon will need a little acidity to carry it rather than big tannins. A fine but not too old Burgundy might be the order of the day.
