Poultry Recipe

Both poultry and game are less nutritious than meat, but they

are more digestible, and consequently are better food than meat for

persons of weak digestive organs and sedentary habits. They are both

excellent for persons who think or write much. Fresh poultry may be

known by its full bright eyes, pliable feet, and soft moist skin; the

best is plump, fat, and nearly white, and the grain of the flesh is

fine. The feet and neck of a young fowl are large in proportion to its

size, and the tip of the breast-bone is soft, and easily bent between

the fingers; a young cock, has soft, loose spurs, and a long, full,

bright red comb; old fowls have long, thin necks and feet, and the flesh

on the legs and back has a purplish shade; chickens and fowls are always

in season.



Turkeys are good when white and plump, have full breasts and smooth

legs, generally black, with soft loose spurs; hen turkeys are smaller,

fatter, and plumper, but of inferior flavor; full grown turkeys are the

best for boiling, as they do not tear in dressing; old turkeys have long

hairs, and the flesh is purplish where it shows under the skin on the

legs and back. About March they deteriorate in quality.



Young ducks and geese are plump, with light, semi-transparent fat, soft

breast-bone, tender flesh, leg joints which will break by the weight of

the bird, fresh colored and brittle beaks, and windpipes that break

when pressed between the thumb and forefinger. They are best in fall and

winter.



Young pigeons have light red flesh upon the breast, and full, fresh

colored legs; when the legs are thin, and the breast is very dark, the

birds are old.

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