Roasted Quail, a Pinedo recipe

I have completed my translation of Encarnación Pinedo's book, El cocinero español, published in 1898. On page 69, I found a recipe I wanted to try:  Roasted Quail.

 Roasted quail.

         They are plucked, opened and cleaned inside, scorched over the flames, tied and covered with a slice of ham and a vine leaf*, and put on a spit, on the grill, or in the oven.

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* The vine, or grape, leaf protects the quail from burning and also adds a sour flavor to the meat.  Use fresh, young leaves in the spring.

I was intrigued by this because it looked so simple -- no seasoning other than the ham and the grape leaf.  My grill was ready for action!

My Redaction

4 quail, cleaned and plucked

8 slices of thinly sliced deli-style ham

8 large, tender grape leaves

kitchen string

Preheat the grill to about 400 degrees F.

Wrap each bird in two slices of ham that overlap slightly.

Wrap again using one or two grape leaves, depending on their size and the size of the bird.

Tie the bundle with the kitchen string.

Cook over direct heat with the grill cover down.  Turn occasionally.

Remove when the breast meat is at least 140 degrees F, about 30 minutes.

Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

My Notes

I had six quail but only enough ham to wrap four.  The other two were sprinkled with salt and pepper and wrapped with oiled foil.  They grilled alongside the others.

Here are the pictures of the birds being wrapped:

I tucked the legs up against the body as best as I could.

Leave the ham wrap ends open so the legs don't poke holes in the ham.

I didn't worry about the holes in the leaf wrapping.

One was tied in two directions.  Not really necessary, I think.

The temperature of the grill varied between about 350 degrees F and 400, depending on how long the lid was up while I was checking on or turning them.

Here is what came in from the grill:

Notice the scorching of the leaves.

The Verdict

I served it with a rice pilaf and a tossed green salad that had a lot of fresh herbs from my garden.

At first my guest taster and I weren't sure if we were supposed to eat the leaf or peel it off.  But it was stuck tightly to the ham and we definitely wanted to eat the ham.  So we just dug in.

My reaction:  quail are tiny!  There isn't a lot of meat compared to the amount of bones you encounter while cutting into them.  It was challenging to eat with a knife and fork.  After a little cutting experience, we both ended up eating them with our fingers.  

The taste was interesting.  The meat by itself had a ham flavor but the best part was a bite with meat, ham, and leaf.  It had the umami along with the salty from the ham and the acid bite from the leaf.  Sometimes the bite was just ham and leaf, which was good, too.  We both approved.

Success!

The scorched parts didn't really add any flavor.  Mostly they crumbled and became little black flakes on the plate and on our laps.  

I wanted to do a taste comparison with the foil-wrapped quail.

It was more steamed than grilled, but it was cooked all the way through and the meat was very moist and tender.  More moist than the leaf-wrapped birds.  But the flavor was not as good.  The salt and pepper were nice, however we preferred the ham and leaf seasoning.

Looking forward, I can say that I won't seek out quail for this recipe again.  They are just too small and boney.  However, I do think this would work well with Rock Cornish game hens, especially if they were stuffed with a chopped ham and grape leaf filling.  This might season the meat from the inside.  Of course, it would take more ham and leaves to accomplish the wrapping, and it would have to cook longer.