Pigeons: The Next Step in Local Eating
 

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Personally, I hate pigeons, and I despise the people who insist on feeding them.

But, i do have a policy of eating anything with four (or two) legs that isn't furniture, so I guess I'd have to give it a shot at least once, right?

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2...igeon-mea.html


Would you?

I used to eat pigeons in the summer as a child. A Spanish aunty who had previously been a cook for a local Count would cook the game brought back by my uncle. Pigeons were often on the menu. They were delicious. I particularly used to enjoy the hearts.

Even if I still ate meat, I don't think I could eat pigeons that had scavenged off of city streets. I still feel ill remembering the pigeons I've seen eating curry and lager vomit.

First, what urbanites call "pigeons" are actually more accurately "rock dove", a species which has well adopted to feral existence and survival in urban areas (because there's plenty to eat which doesn't move fast enough to get away and more than enough shelter). While you wouldn't want to eat them, there's nothing wrong with their offspring (if exposed only to a less "gamy" diet).

Years ago, we used to bait/trap the adult birds in old vacant buildings to be used for a sporting event which PETA would certainly describe as beyond barbaric, "Pigeon Shoots", in which the birds are hurled by "trained" pigeon-chuckers aloft in front of shot gunners. While the serious casualty rate among pigeon-chuckers remains modest (small shot rarely decapitates), the live birds do provide more action than clays in skeet or trap setups.

Pigeon/Rock Dove raised at home (or the semi-wild "Barn-bred" birds) are succulent fare when eaten young ("Squab"), a real delicacy when carefully prepared. The adult birds are certainly edible, but in my experience work best in "Game Pies" or similar casserole/slow moist cooking environments.

Spitted squab, wrapped in smoky bacon and cooked over coals, are certainly the equal of mourning or white-wing dove (and once used to the ideal of "dark meat"), not far behind quail (or even partridge) in sauteed dishes.

The best avian food I ever ate was medium-rare breast of pigeon
with celeriac and truffles at Vau in Berlin a few years ago.

I guess in the end I wasn't clear about the article's point. Does the author expect us to eat those "urban pigeons?" I think I'd rather starve. Might as well eat rat at that point.

Squab, on the other hand...

Of course, the real question is, are there specific breeds of spanish pigeons that we can argue about... :D ;)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36CixkIaIc

No argument, it's awful!

Wow! That is something. And you know they probably got paid for it and everything.

The only argument is which paloma blanca is worse.

At the same time that the George Baker version was in the British charts this one by the creepier Jonathan King was also there. Both were in the top ten at one point :eek:.

And I can vaguely stay in topic as this is the Dining Forum by letting you know that we got Paloma Blanca all over again - this time on the farm with cider.

Well, NSS, what exactly do you think is the difference between
pigeon/rock dove and squab?

Heh heh.

As my wife is Chinese, we often eat pigeon -- it's very good, a little gamier and drier than chicken, but quite tasty. When my mother was alive, we used to tell her we were ordering squab. She tried it and agreed it was quite good. She passed away a few years ago and we never told her she had been enjoying pigeon -- she was from New York. She'd have been appalled!

Full circle. The Rock Dove was originally domesticated for food.

I've eaten wood pigeon (Columba spp. like the feral pigeon) in the U.K. (the one with the white ring/mark on their necks). Quite nice and surprisingly even the "white" meat is a dark red. Said to be the biggest pigeon.

Pigeons are eaten everywhere which explains the dovecots you find in France, U.K., and Egypt/N. Africa. China seems to specialise in squab. Yeah, I wouldn't want to eat urban pigeons but the ones that come from rural areas should be fine.

Pigeon Fanciers
 

...have always claimed the versatility of their birds, this just proves they are indeed suitable for a variety of uses. :)

I've had pigeon "empanada"-type things in Morocco. Pigeons are a popular ingredient in Moroccan cuisine - and they're sold (live) in many markets there...

If I were to eat those things, I would never have to buy meat again, I have more pigeons in my house than a church

:confused: Where do you live?

I had pigeon in Hong Kong once. It was served whole (head, feet, everything) and was laid out on a bed of what appeared to be Pringles.
It actually wasn't bad.

Tastes a little like chicken (seriously), but is a bit tougher and the meat is darker.

YMMV.

That's my experience, but I had the pigeon in soup.

Pringles, really?

That was either shrimp toast or pork skin.

It is customary in China to serve the entire body, head, legs, etc. included where practical (Cows are too large). The idea is to give you the impression that you are eating a tasty animal, not just a hunk of meat.

But the bird (or fish or mammal) should have been "cleaned" prior to being served.

PETA -- People Eating Tasty Animals.

Travel tips: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Look left

i have read more than once that "Ernest Hemingway used to catch and cook pigeons for his young family when he was a starving writer in Paris"

:eek:

Pringles? Pork skin? It's all the same.... ;)

Ooh...the zombie dancers are even creepier than the song!

I ate super-delicious pigeon in Cairo, which is probably the closest I've gotten to true sketchy 'urban pigeon.' I asked no questions about where the bird came from, just got in there and got greasy--they were roasted with a nice rice stuffing, and served with a mug of lemony broth.

If I never had to know where the pigeons were coming from, I'd be all for urban pigeon--hey, they're free-range!

Yeah babeeeee! :D

Though I'd be more likely to buy and eat pigeons which had fed in a less polluted environment than an urban center...

This week there was a TV news story on some pigeon fanciers (of the old school) who rigged their pigeons up with a form of CH9 video.

They are quite a versatile bird and not only a tasty meal for falcons. :)

This thread has brought back lovely memories of a meal in Marrakech, featuring pigeon bastilla. Excellent, if rather rich, stuff. That sweary Ramsay fella has had a few recipes on his F-word show featuring the birds too.

As for pig's skin, well, pork scratchings (often featuring hairs) have been a staple in English pubs (particularly around the West Midlands) for ages now.

Not quite shrimp toast. It's some shrimp/prawn-flavoured dried dough that's deep fried where it puffs up.

:D

I've enjoyed pigeon in a pie (and pastilla sounds great), but didn't enjoy the whole bird that much. A bit too greasy for my liking, and very gamey.

My great Uncle turned pigeons from the local farmer's barns into one of the first Ford dealerships in New England. The short version... he caught the pigeons in the farmer's barns (for which they paid him a small fee). He walked 20 miles into Boston and the pigeons were traded for a pig. Eventually he traded pigs for cows, cows for horses...to cars... you get the picture. Over the years he emassed a fortune - of course in the end he spent it all... on fast cars, pretty women and his passion - race horses. He died a couple of bucks short of the funeral expenses and enjoyed it all. Now THAT was a life... If I see pigeon on the menu you bet I'll be eating it!

I have consumed fried pigeons. It is softer than chicken to be honest with you. :p