The last becada of the season

[pedro]

Becada (woodcock, scolopax rusticola) is becoming a rarer and rarer dish. Its season is quite short, and there're few restaurants which are able to get some of these delicious birds. We also have to consider that becada, when properly prepared, presents a very strong smell and taste (not unlike the cerceta, teal bird), which challenges the mainstream mindsets of diners and cookers.

IMHO, the best way to serve the becada, is following the traditional standards. A toast with paté made from its offal, a simple sauce of Brandy or Armagnac, and roasted. Of course, rarely cooked, and I prefer a good dose of faisandage.

This year, I've sampled becada at Goizeko Wellington, Viridiana and Arce (twice). Zalacaín, where when I was visiting them didn't have becada available, served me an excellent example (my first one) some years ago.

The best becada dish I've had this season, was yesterday's one at Arce, where they master how to cook game. In Goizeko and Viridiana are not supporters of long periods of faisandage, whereas Iñaki Camba in Arce usually has a handful of pieces at different faisandage stages. The dish, cooked as described above, presented a long, deep and mineral taste, contrasting with the light sweetness of the Armagnac based sauce. As Iñaki once taught me, you can also eat the bones of some game birds (teal bird, woodcock), and so I did this time. The only caveat is to chew them carefully to avoid injuries caused by the splinters. Naturally, you have to use your hands to extract all the taste the dish can offer.

An excellent wine to pair with this dish, is the 51 1ª Amontillado, one of those undervalued sherries.

The rest of the meal, was more than very good, including smoked octopuss with mashed potatoes, shrimp in its own gelée with tartar sauce and salt from its head, roasted sprint mushrooms, oyster and sea urchin, and the traditional alubias rojas (red beans), with its customary accompaniment of chorizo, morcilla, panceta y repollo. A great (absolutely) portuguese amantecado cheese, similar to our Torta del Casar with a red sweet wine, the famous Dolç de l'Obac (Priorat), was the precedent of the desserts, a selection of home made pastry.

So long, becada. Eat you next year.

[Marco_Polo]

What a wonderful homage to an end-of-season delicacy, Pedro. I've never eaten becada but your description makes me feel like I enjoyed it at the table alongside you. I can of course imagine the long, lingering taste of that exceptional Amontillado, the best of whch can truly be among the greatest wines in the world.

¡Muchas gracias!

Marc

[Adam Balic]

Have you any other traditional recipe for wookcocks? They are still relatively common here and avalible from the local game dealer for about £3 a bird in season. The same dealer tells me that they are often taken by shooting parties, but mostly discarded as they are not known to the clients, unlike say peasant or partridge.

[Bux]

Woodcock, which I believe is becasse in French, is not very common in NY. We had it last winter at Daniel. My recollection was that it was very tasty. It was not unlike pigeon, but stronger in flavor. The flavor is one I describe as rich like liver. I doubt it was hung, which is what I assume is referred to as "faisandage."

Edit to say that I now believe that was grousse we had, and not woodcock, after some discussion with those who have a better memory.

Edited January 10, 2005 by Bux (log)

[MiguelCardoso]

they are often taken by shooting parties, but mostly discarded as they are not known to the clients, unlike say peasant or partridge.

Oh Adam - isn't that New Labour for you? In the UK, despite all the social progress of the 20th Century, you're still discarding your peasants. Here on the continent, whenever we can get our hands on one, we still consider them one of the tastier items of the field. :)

[pedro]

Have you any other traditional recipe for wookcocks? They are still relatively common here and avalible from the local game dealer for about £3 a bird in season. The same dealer tells me that they are often taken by shooting parties, but mostly discarded as they are not known to the clients, unlike say peasant or partridge.

Adam, unfortunately, I don't have a recipe. Nonetheless, Josep Pla, one of Spain's finest writer of the last century and knowledgeable gourmet, on his book "El que hem menjat (Lo que hemos comido)" ("What we've eaten"), a collection of his essays on food, includes a description of bécasse sur canapé:

After extracting the offals, roast the whole bird in the oven. Put the offals over a toast, and over this, the roasted bird using the juice generated in the roasting process as sauce.

What I believe is missing there, and everywhere I've had becada basically uses the former recipe, is that you cook the offals using some strong licquor, namely brandy, armagnac or calvados, and make a thick paté with that afterwards. You also soak the toast in the sauce resulting in the reduction of licquor and offals.

I guess you could also google becada and bécasse, which I'm sure will get you more specific recipes.

Woodcock, which I believe is becasse in French, is not very common in NY. We had it last winter at Daniel. My recollection was that it was very tasty. It was not unlike pigeon, but stronger in flavor. The flavor is one I describe as rich like liver. I doubt it was hung, which is what I assume is referred to as "faisandage."

Bux, you're right, I was referring to bécasse. I don't know what others would think, but having them after 2-3 weeks of faisandage is something else.

[Bux]

Opinions run high when it comes to food. Most gastronomes have strong opinions even when polite enough to hide them in company. Here is what they say in my English edition of the Larousse Gastronomic. "The woodcock, which is considered, by people who know what is good, the best winged bird." They go on to express some other strong opinions on eating and cooking woodcock, although they note that gastronomes don't always agree on certain things such as gutting the bird and allowing the bird to get too high.

They support spreading the bird's intestines, which are chopped finely with some bacon fat or foie gras, a dash of brandy, salt, pepper and spices, on a piece of bread that has been fried in the drippings, although they note that not everyone agrees on this. They prefer simpler recipes rather than complicated ones. Their basic recipe is to cook the bird, cut it up into joints which are kept warm, but not boiling, while a sauce is made from a small glass of cognac, armagnac or calvados added to the pan, the chopped intestines, any blood from the carcass, a tablespoon of concentrated game stock and a dash of lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne.

They are not so supportive of allowing the bird to get too high. They say that some alleged woodcock fanciers have no interest in eating woodcock unless the bird has reach a state of decomposition and go on to say this is not a healthy practice. I'll not quote their exact words in this regard as they're quite unflattering to those who enjoy the meat when it is very "high."

[pedro]

Quoting Pla again:

"To me, there's no question: the woodcock is undoubtedly the best edible winged bird in the country. Its meat is sublime, incomparable, of the highest category. This opinion is not restricted to our country: everywhere the same view is held."

In another chapter, talking about game in general, Pla says about faisandage:

"Yes. Game has to be faisandé [...] It's the only way of not getting exposed to eat it raw. I know very well that generally this things are not pleasant to people of this country: they prefer to eat the pieces raw that slightly rotten. I hope, nonetheless, that you'll forgive me if I say that raw game is something so insipid and of such evident prehistoric inanity, that if faced with the possibility is better not having it."

Talking with chefs, many of them say 'no' to large periods of faisandage, preferring to serve the pieces fresher. Having tasted pieces in different stages, I prefer the ones I had at Arce and Zalacaín (where they make a point of explaining what you're about to have and making sure that you 'qualify' to have becada (in my case, stating that I've had certeta before) to avoid unwanted surprises). OTOH, my wife prefers less radical tastes and likes better the way they prepare the bird at Viridiana.

I guess if taste weren't a matter of discussion, eG wouldn't exist.

PS: Sorry for the poor translation of Pla's work.

Edited April 20, 2004 by Bux (log)

[Adam Balic]

Pedro – El que hem menjat is a one book that I wish was translated into English. I have seen some short translations of Pla’s writing and I have enjoyed what I have seen very much.

The woodcock that I get are hung for about ten days. The game dealer advises that the head should be bent around and the beak thrust into the thigh before roasting. Now here is something you may not have heard, the distinctive flavour of the birds ‘trail’ (guts) is thought to be due to the presence of many tapeworm parasites. The contents of the birds bowels are released when the bird is flushed by the hunter, the parasites remain behind and these are flavourful component that gets mashed up with the guts to form the rough pate. Or so I have been told by a parasitologist!

I have mashed the guts to make the ‘Pate’ and eaten it, delicious but preparing ten day old semi-decomposed bird bowels is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Edited April 20, 2004 by Adam Balic (log)

[Bux]

I'm sure the phrase "more than I want to know" has cropped up in many a member's mind, reading this thread. Keep up the good work. If nothing else, you may be keeping the price of woodcock low.

[docsconz]

I must say I am both intrigued and appalled I would certainly try it if I had the chance.

[vserna]

So long, becada. Eat you next year.

You could have had at least one more, Pedro. Season not quite over. I had a terrific becada last night at Dantxari, Madrid's exemplary Basque tavern.

I must confess I was inspired by your stupendous account of the meal at Arce. It's long been my belief that every serious foodie should try to eat at least one plate of lamprey eel and one of woodcock every year - just as a reminder of the powerful, non-industrial, almost telluric foodstuffs our forebears sometimes enjoyed before these modern times when almost every animal we eat comes from a farm where it's fed unspeakable things and comes out limp, bland and in need of copious doses of chipotle pepper or lemongrass to taste of anything...

Well, I hadn't had any woodcock this season, I realized when reading your post. And sitting at the table with me yesterday were two other serious foodies - my wife and a Dutch friend who's a redoubtable cook himself. So when Eduardo Navarrina, the maître d' and co-owner of Dantxari, told me he had some becadas, I asked him and chef Alonso to compose a seasonal menu - the kinds of things that are good in April, not in August or December. Again, just like old times. Before progress brought airshipped South African grapes in April to the street markets in the small (and grape-producing) villages in La Mancha...

So this is what they fed us, with the liquid accompaniment of some Henri Abelé NV champagne, a Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas 2001 red made with the subtle mencía grape of Bierzo (i.e., the jaen of Portugal's Dão region) and a few glasses of the light, sprightly Gianni Gagliardo Moscato d'Asti 2003 (which our old buddy Abraham García, the chef at Viridiana, imports personally from Piemonte) with dessert:

- Huge, one-inch-wide white Navarra asparagus (two per person - an ample portion!), perfectly cooked, tender as a kiss, with a simple hollandaise sauce and some crisp-fried flat-leaf parsley for the fun counterpoint. (I gallantly tried to eat them with my fingers, to follow old-time protocol, but they were just too large...) This is the stuff that goes into the famed and much-discussed canned Cojonudos asparagus, but this time of the year is when they can be briefly be enjoyed fresh and at their apex.

- A simple little dish of tiny, consistent perretxikos (St. George's mushrooms or Calocybe gambosa, which the French call mousserons), the prized springtime fungal delicacy. They were stir-fried in some butter in a small copper pan. The forest on a platter.

- Large, tender, imposing morels which Alonso stuffs with a mix of minced lamb sweetbreads, black truffles and duck foie gras, then braises them in a cream-and-Armagnac reduction. Positively 19th-century, but great.

- Some splendid Mediterranean red mullet filets, first quickly sautéed in olive oil, then deboned and served with the skin on, and accompanied with just-boiled, fresh, very small, double-peeled broad beans (or fava beans if you will). Phenomenal combination.

- Then, of course, the small becadas, one per person. Well hung, they are very briefly oven-roasted while their innards are minced and served aside on a small piece of toast. The sauce is a reduction of the bird's juices and bones, brandy, red wine and shallots that goes through the sieve. There's also a little home-made fig chutney on the side and some fresh, just-heated raspberries and strawberries for the sweet-and-sour contrast with the amazingly deep, gamey taste of the woodcock. Indeed, one of the greatest game dishes anywhere.

We had various desserts; in my case, some sleek slices of perfectly ripe mango with a dollop of leche merengada ice cream. Leche merengada is an old-time ice cream made in Spanish villages before any industrial stuff was available. It's made with milk, egg whites, lemon rind and sugar, and copiously sprinkled with cinnamon.

The memories will serve for another year...

[pedro]

Víctor, thank you. I'm happy I've played a part, though small, in the delicious meal you had at Dantxari. It's been years the other way around (and I expect that this continues to be the case), so what can I say?

I've already sampled perretxikos this year, but not morels. Being a mushroomholic, morels are one of my favourite species.

Coming back to the becadas, there's a couple of questions I'd like to ask. What do you think of the hanging period? I guess that question is easily extended to game in general. Have you tried to pair game, specially the powerful types like becada with Oloroso or Amontillado?

Every time I think about game, I think about Horcher, a classic restaurant in Madrid with Austrian roots. But somehow, being quite lazy when formal dress codes are required, I've never made my mind to visit them. I wonder if they are up to the reputation they hold regarding game...

[vserna]

What do you think of the hanging period? I guess that question is easily extended to game in general. Have you tried to pair game, specially the powerful types like becada with Oloroso or Amontillado?

I'm no expert on 'faisandage', but obviously in the 21st century you no longer refer to the 'true' meaning of the term, which was 'putrefaction of a pheasant'. Grimod de la Reynière and Brillat-Savarin recommended not eating a bird until its belly was green on the outside. Ugghhhh... What one needs with wild animals in modern cuisine is for the tissues to become relaxed: about three days for a wild rabbit or a hare after it'e been killed (in fresh air); same for venison or wild boar, but then unless you are a hunter this will be bought in a shop and already aged for 2-3 days before selling (or deep-freezing).

Oloroso is too much of a good thing with game IMHO; an old amontillado or a palo cortado, however, are really nice. But nothing beats a deep, mineral, not-markedly-tannic red like CdP or the Spanish cousins thereof like Priorat and others. (More tannic, cabernet-sauvignon-based wines from bordeaux or California, or tempranillo-based reds from Ribera del Duero, would be best with beef, which is fattier than game.)

I haven't been to Horcher in a long time, but Abraham García tells me they're still on top of their game for their traditional specialties, namely - game! And it's a cultural experience - going back to Berlin, circa 1904. (Now that I mention it, I do think this is their 100th anniversary...)

Edited May 5, 2004 by vserna (log)

[vmilor]

For Becada lovers I recommend Chateauvieux right outside Geneve in Satigny. The chef is also a hunter and he prepares a game menu in late fall/early winter composed of many small birds(except ortolans) and the piece de resistance is his becasse prepared in a similar way to Dantxari but with lots of truffles in a frothy foie gras based sauce which blend well with the metallic flavors of the bird. The dish is Proustian for me in its sheer decadence and turn of the century la grande tradition feel.

I have had becadas at both Coques and Goizeko Kabi last year. The first was good(though the restaurant excels in roasted cochinillo), the second outstanding. Both Chevrier at Chateauvieux and the chef at Goizeko cook the bird rare, Coques had roasted it rather medium.

May I hasten to say that, the feast described by vserna at Dantxari is the reason why I consider Spain a culinary destination. One can hop off from one multi starred restaurant to another in Spain(which will be hit and miss like everywhere else) without getting a feel of what Spanish cuisine and raw materials/ingredients are all about.

[pedro]

Hi Vedat, it's good to have you back around here! I take note of your recommendation for becada.

PS: Though now we're out of the months containing an 'r' in their name, when seafood it's supposed to excel (BTW, the months with 'r' are the same in Spanish and English), Combarro is waiting for you.

Perhaps someone in a new thread could explain us the reason why seafood is supposed to be at its best from September to April?

[Bux]

Perhaps someone in a new thread could explain us the reason why seafood is supposed to be at its best from September to April?

I've heard that about oysters, but never about all seafood and I've heard a number of reasons why that "rule" came about. The most popular explanation seems to be that it's easier for the oysters to spoil in warmer weather without modern refrigeration methods. I've not found that terribly convincing, but it may have played a part and that fact that the rule no longer seems to be in effect certainly lends credence to that kind of explanation, but there may be other health factors involving bacteria in the water. There was another expanation that is based on the reproductive cycle of oysters and that they don't taste as good after they've spawned. The most reasonable theory seems to be that oysters taste better in December than they do in June, but I have no way of doing a blind tasting.

There was a thread a while back in the Texas forum about Gulf (of Mexico) oysters. The thead was actually about Sex, Death and Oysters an article by Robb Welsh in the Houston Press. In it, he champions the Gulf oysters although it seemed to me he offered some good reasons why cold water oysters are safer and tastier.

In cold water, oysters "fatten up" to protect themselves. But instead of fat, they lay down a sugar compound called glycogen. The colder the water, the more of this sugarcoating they produce. That's why, even here in Texas, oysters taste best during the coldest part of the winter.   

He goes on to lend support to all three reasons I've heard.

I've decided to treat oysters as a seasonal food. I'll eat raw oysters in the winter, when the glycogen makes them sweet and the bacteria are scarce. When the water warms up in the spring and the bacteria start to swarm, I'll switch to cooked oysters. In the summer, after the oyster has spawned, it has little flavor or substance left. And that's also when the bacteria are the highest. So I might as well observe the "never eat oysters in months without an 'r'" rule.   

[docsconz]

I must say I am both intrigued and appalled I would certainly try it if I had the chance.

←

I am finally about to have my chance to try woodcock. A local restaurant got a few in, which they are holding for me. I'm going tonight. I shall report back on my experience.

[polack]

I must say I am both intrigued and appalled I would certainly try it if I had the chance.

←

I am finally about to have my chance to try woodcock. A local restaurant got a few in, which they are holding for me. I'm going tonight. I shall report back on my experience.

←

This past year, while hunting in northeast Pennsylvania, I did notice quite a few woodcock in the woods. Years past had limited quantities and you would be luckey to see a very few throughout the spring turkey and fall small game season, hope that is a sign of their comeback. We cooked them the same way we would cook dove, breasts only in a tomato sauce, I would be interested in other ways.

Polack

[docsconz]

Briefly, I had my becada tonight and it was sensational. More details to follow.

[Revallo]

Wow, I had no idea this bird was so gastronomically importiant, my first memory of woodcock was when I was 16 working as the Garde Manger in this small restaurant with an open kitchen. It was not an especially busy night when one of the regular diners came up to the pass with something packaged in brown paper. Our friend had been bird hunting that late winter day and shot a couple of woodcock. I believe he served it with a red wine reduction and foie trimings melted in the sauce. Before he left he handed the chef a 100 dollar bill. He saved a bit of the bird for me to try, as I tasted it, the wild and rich bird seemed to teach me what food is all about. Unfortunetly that was the last time I tasted woodcock.

[docsconz]

In a word - amazing!

Some photos:

The bird still frozen. It had faisandage to it, although I am not sure for how long.

A wing. This was a beautiful bird.

The uncooked head with the brain glistening within the cranium.

The final dish: head, leg and breast with foie gras wrapped in cabbage leaf served with tourneed potatos, carrots and (not shown) toast points with an awesome offal spread.

[JosephB]

As a City boy, I would find it more appetizing to look at photos of the meat dressed and finished on the plate. Did you have to pick any feathers out of your teeth?

[Bux]

As a City boy, I would find it more appetizing to look at photos of the meat dressed and finished on the plate.  Did you have to pick any feathers out of your teeth?

←

We're lucky that John was able to show us photographs of that too, but as a city boy myself, I have to say that visiting the Mercat de la Boqueria in Barcelona in the fall with all that plummage of the freshly killed feathered game, was a beautiful sight to behold. The same could be said for the fur on the hooks. I don't know that it actually made anything more, or less, appetizing, but it added a dimension to my food experience.

[docsconz]

The feathery photos were added so that the type of bird was in fact identifiable, although I suppose it could have been identified from the head on the plate