Tim Maddams presents this easy BBQ pigeon recipe so you can have a change from the usual sausages and burgers... don’t be scared, it’s lovely and tender!
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We are very funny about BBQs on the whole in the UK. We seem very happy with the idea of sausages, burgers and even, these days, some pulled pork, but rarely anything on the bone.
Now, as most cooks will tell you, meat or fish cooked on the bone often has a better flavour than that cooked off the bone. So, here’s an idea!
We all love a pigeon breast, and I know it’s a simple, clean, quick and convenient way to deal with the birds – particularly if you are lucky enough to live where there are plenty of them – but the younger birds really are better cooked on the bone. They are tender and delicate enough to make it really worthwhile, and this recipe will work very well indeed – it’s a fingers dish though, none of that cutlery nonsense, please.
You are all expert pigeon shots I am sure, so I won’t bore you with the details of how to recognise a younger bird, but for those of you new to the sport these are the ones without the neck bar, with a slight brown mottling to the feathers and a suicidal approach to the decoys.
Once you have selected some lovely young specimens, pluck them and eviscerate them in the usual way. This recipe will benefit from a little time in the marinade, but don’t let that put you off if you are a last minute kind of person – just crack right on and get them over the fire.
You will need some bay twigs for this recipe to work at its best. The way the aromatic wood flavours the meat as it cooks is unique and there is no other way to get that flavour, so find a bay tree and make yourself some stout skewers for the spatchcock job.
And, just to be clear, a barbecue is a live fire or smouldering coals, it is never a gas grill. Ever!
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