- Type: Art Audio File
- Collection: European Art
- Culture/Region: Europe
- Subject Area: Visual Arts
- Grade Level: 9-12, College, Adult
Though sensitivity toward animals increased in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists continued to paint the very birds that hunters happily continued to hunt. Ruffs and reeves were a delicacy for sportsmen. The Cook’s Guide and Housekeeper’s & Butler’s Assistant, an 1861 book by Charles Elmé Francatelli, who served as chief cook to Queen Victoria, includes a recipe for the second course roast—“ruffs and reeves”:
These birds must not be drawn, neither do they require much trussing, being very plump; a small wooden skewer should be run through the thighs and pinions, with a string passed round it, and fastened; cover these also with a layer of bacon and a vine-leaf; run them upon a larkspit, and roast them before a brisk fire for about twenty minutes, frequently basting them with butter, and set some toasted bread under them to receive their droppings. When done, dish them up on square pieces of the toast; garnish with watercresses; pour some gravy under them, and serve the following sauce separately in a boat:—a large spoonful of good butter-sauce, a piece of glaze, cayenne pepper, and lemon-juice.