Why not Swan?

[Garooch]

So I've heard of eating ducks, geese, pheasant..most every kind of fowl. But I've never heard of eating swan, or have ever seen a recepe for one. Why not?

[Dasiavue]

A Boke of Gode Cookery Presents


http://www.godecookery.com/mtrans/mtrans52.html
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For to dihyte a swan

PERIOD: England, 14th century | SOURCE: Utilis Coquinario | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Roasted swan with Chaudon



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ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

11. For to dihyte a swan. Tak & vndo hym & wasch hym, & do on a spite & enarme hym fayre & roste hym wel; & dysmembre hym on þe beste manere & mak a fayre chyne, & þe sauce þerto schal be mad in þis manere, & it is clept:

12. Chaudon. Tak þe issu of þe swan & wasch it wel, & scoure þe guttes wel with salt, & seth þe issu al togedere til it be ynow, & þan tak it vp and wasch it wel & hew it smal, & tak bred & poudere of gyngere & of galyngale & grynde togedere & tempere it with þe broth, & coloure it with þe blood. And when it is ysothe & ygrounde & streyned, salte it, & boyle it wel togydere in a postnet & sesen it with a litel vynegre.

- Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). New York: for The Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985.



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GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

For to prepare a swan. Take & undo him & wash him, & do on a spit & lard him fair & roast him well; & dismember him on the best manner & make a fair carving, & the sauce thereto shall be made in this manner, & it is called:

Chaudon. Take the issue of the swan & wash it well, & scour the guts well with salt, & boil the issue all together til it be enough, & then take it up and wash it well & hew it small, & take bread & powder of ginger & of galingale & grind together & temper it with the broth, & color it with the blood. And when it is boiled & ground & strained, salt it, & boil it well together in a small pot & season it with a little vinegar.



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INGREDIENTS:

1 swan (see note)
Olive oil (see note)
DIRECTIONS:
With your hands or a pastry brush, coat the entire outside of a cleaned & gutted swan (being sure to reserve the giblets for the Chaudon sauce) with olive oil. Roast on either a spit or in an oven. (A modern rotisserie may be the closest many of us will be able to come to actual spit roasting, but if that is not possible, an oven will do the job as well.) Roast until done, basting often with broth or drippings. Carve into serving pieces and serve with Chaudon sauce.

Chaudon Sauce:

Swan giblets
Salt
Broth
Unseasoned toasted breadcrumbs (see note)
Ginger
Galingale
Red Wine Vinegar
Wash the blood from the giblets, and while still wet, sprinkle with a little salt. Place in a pot, cover with water and boil until done. Remove, drain, & cool. Chop the giblets into small pieces; place giblets and the broth, spices, & breadcrumbs in a food processor (or any equivalent device) and combine into a smooth gravy-like sauce. Strain if necessary. Place in a sauceboat, add salt if necessary, and bring to a soft boil. Reduce heat to a simmer & add a little vinegar for a slight tartness. Serve with the roasted swan.
What?!? No swan at your local market? In case such a fate does befall you, any large waterfowl will do, such as a goose. However, this is one of the few times when a turkey may be considered for a medieval feast; as a substitute for swan, it really is the closest bird in size that most of us will be able to find. Turkeys were not introduced into Europe until well after 1500 and for medieval feasts they are quite terribly inappropriate, but for late Renaissance or Elizabethan feasts, they are acceptable. (See An Elizabethan Dinner Conversation, where the master of the house proclaims, "Cut that turkeycock in pieces, but let it be cold, for it is better cold than hot.") But, when needing to recreate a medieval dish featuring swan, the modern cook may turn to turkey as the cheapest and most easily accessible substitute. Keep in mind, though, that any large bird will also do, so use turkey only when you're not able to obtain a goose, duck, or even a large capon.

Galingale, a spice made from the root of the Cypress tree, is often found in stores that sell Asian or Indian foods. You may substitute by adding a little white pepper to the ginger.

The medieval cook was faced with a culinary paradox when "dihyting," or preparing, a swan. As a waterfowl, its nature was moist and wet, and therefore needed to be roasted to counteract those qualities. However, swans (despite their humoural properties) are notoriously dry & tough, and roasting only exacerbates this condition. The solution was therefore to add a moistening agent to the swan, hence the larding. The modern cook may not be comfortable with this procedure, so applying a coat of olive oil to the bird before roasting and keeping it well basted will effectively serve the same purpose.

Modern poultry is somewhat "cleaner" and is slaughtered more hygienically than medieval fowl; scouring the guts with salt may have been necessary then, but is probably not so now, and only increases the amount of what is now known to be unhealthy ingredient when used in excess.

Interestingly, the toasted breadcrumbs serve as a substitute for blood! In the Utilis Coquinario recipe which follows the swan & Chauden receipts, we find a heron prepared "as is þe swan" with its sauce "made of hym as a chaudon of gynger & of galyngale, & þat it be coloured with þe blood or with brende crustes þat arn tosted."

[Dasiavue]

Today’s Recipe ..

Ludwig was also known as “The Swan King” for his great love of “The Monarch of the Lake”, and swan motifs are everywhere in his castles. We can be fairly sure he would never have eaten his favourite bird, but earlier rich and royal folk certainly did. It was not enjoyed for its taste – which is said to be like “fishy mutton”, but because it was prestigious (certainly in England, all swans have officiallly belonged to the monarch since the twelfth century) and because it could be made into a spectacular centrepiece at the banquet. To do this of course required that the cooked swan be re-dressed in its plumage before being presented at table. In case you need to know how to do this, here is a recipe from the late fourteenth century “Le Menagier de Paris”.

SWAN. Pluck like a chicken or goose, scald, or boil; spit, skewer in four places, and roast with all its feet and beak, and leave the head unplucked; and eat with yellow pepper.

Item, if you wish, it may be gilded.

Item, when you kill it, you should split its head down to the shoulders.

Item, sometimes they are skinned and reclothed.

RECLOTHED SWAN in its skin with all the feathers. Take it and split it between the shoulders, and cut it along the stomach: then take off the skin from the neck cut at the shoulders, holding the body by the feet; then put it on the spit, and skewer it and gild it. And when it is cooked, it must be reclothed in its skin, and let the neck be nice and straight or flat; and let it be eaten with yellow pepper.
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-roast-swan.html

[redstella]

Swans were once considered a delicacy of the aristocratic British upperclass, but were declared the property of the Crown and are still protected by law from poachers.

Also, Leviticus states that swans are considered "unclean" fowl, although it is noted that this was a misinterpretation and the bird named is actually a type of owl.

The mythological references are legion. Leda and the Swan (Zeus in disguise) whose union produced the face that launched a thousand ships aka Helenof Troy, the shapeshifting swan maidens of lore and the ballet Swan Lake, the Swan Knight (inspired the opera Lohengrin)...plus, swans are incredibly sensual and beautiful. Better to gaze upon than dine on...

[Dasiavue]

Swans are a type of owl? Interesting!

[Garooch]

That one would have to go back to the 14th century for a recepe sais a lot. What kind of wine do you think might go with swan?

[Dasiavue]

They had a brand of wine called Swan something mentioned with the recipes. By the way, check put the cute baby buffalo on Upnorthwoman's site. Next time you cook buffalo meat... think of him!

[Ron Kruger]

Now Garooch, you should know the only wine to drink with swan is Cold Duck.

[Tim555]

Shucks....I think Swampy swans are too swazi to swallow..