Our viands

The peacock is seldom if ever sent to table at the present day in its gorgeous plumes, the latest recorded instance of its appearance being at a dinner given to William IV. when Duke of Clarence, by the governor of Grenada; but our cooks still adorn the supper table with game pies embellished with the stuffed heads and displayed tails of pheasants ; and young pea-fowls are still eaten with relish on the rare occasions when they are obtainable, as are also cygnets, the swan, like the peacock, having passed away from the ordinary cook's domain, but the great swannery at Abbotsbury still sends some yearly to the Queen's table, and we sometimes, though very rarely, see swans hanging in poulterers' shops. The place of both these former favourites has been taken by the turkey, which, ever since its first introduction, has been growing in favour until it has now become so much a 102 OUR VIANDS necessity, that there is scarcely a household in the three kingdoms of any social standing, which does not place a turkey on the table at Christmas, and one wonders in contemplating the tons upon tons displayed in shops and stores during the winter, where they can have come from. Norfolk turkeys take the first place in the market, and magnificent specimens they are, with sufficient white dainty meat on the breast to serve a family party, whilst all the masculine members of the household may breakfast on the well-devilled legs. There has been much discussion as to whether the birds known to the ancients as meleagrides were the same as our turkeys, but the opinion is now generally held that the former birds were guinea-fowls, and that the turkey was unknown before the days of Columbus, being a native of America, where it is still found wild, and having been introduced to Europe by Jesuit missionaries, but it was certainly known in England in the reign of Henry VIII., and, according to Beckmann, began to appear as a Christmas dish about 1585. TheTalegalla or brush-turkey, which builds curious mounds in which to lay its eggs, allowing them to be hatched by the heat generated by the fermentation of the heaped-up material, is much sought by the Australian savages as an article of food, and, like all wild birds, is eaten with gusto by the sportsman, but it is not at all like the common turkey. The guinea-fowl, supposed to have been the bird known to the ancients as turkey, has long been domesticated in England, and is a most useful stop-gap, coming into season just when game and poultry are scarce : when young it is almost equal to pheasant. It is a very shy bird, and GAME AND POULTRY 103 although you may pet the pretty little chicks, they are sure to fly away as soon as they can, and will seldom roost with common fowls, but will prefer the highest tree they can find, and lay their eggs in the most inaccessible places, by preference in a bed of stinging nettles. The chief rival of the turkey is the goose, which is, indeed, so highly esteemed by the ' masses,' that goose clubs have long been established, to which the mechanic subscribes for many weeks before Christmas, in order to receive a fine fat goose for the delectation of himself and family at the winter festival. The savoury bird is not despised by more aristocratic palates, although from the sage and onion accompaniment which is indispensable, it may not appear on state occasions.