Snipe ✦

Bécassine des marais

What it is

The bird’s evasive zigzag flight gave English the word sniper, coined by soldiers in British India who found no harder small target on the wing. In the kitchen it weighs about a quarter of a woodcock, which is why it arrives two or three to a plate rather than one.

In the kitchen

Six to eight minutes at 240 °C, breast down for the first half, and pull it while the breast is still purple at the centre. The legs want five minutes more than the breast, so take them off and finish them separately.

Goes with

Butter Armagnac Juniper berry Porcini Shallot Black pepper

In season alongside

Hind Roe deer Fallow deer Young wild boar Partridge Grey partridge

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