Quails courtesy of Cardinal Wolsey
We are finally able to watch the wonderful Wolf Hall on free-to-air television here and last night was the episode in which Cardinal Wolsey dies. Whilst talking fondly about him with Cromwell, his right-hand man George (I'm not really sure who he was), mentioned that Wolsey missed quails when he was sent north. And this tiny incident came into my head as I was casting around in my mind for today's topic. So not really about Cardinal Wolsey - he's just the starting point. Interesting man he must have been though, although perhaps not quite as interesting as Cromwell. And not food. So let's talk about quail.
I have never, ever, cooked a quail and only eaten them a very few times. And I have never eaten quails eggs - well maybe I have (in a restaurant) but I can't remember. Actually I think my friend Monika may have served us some once- and I bet they were good because she is a really good cook. And frankly my memory of eating quail is pretty absent - lots of bones I seem to remember and not a lot of meat. I don't remember the taste at all - a bit like chicken? Like pigeons which I have also not eaten very many of. I have dipped into my cookery books for opinions, and also browsed the web and have found that the way they were talked about back in my youth is really quite different to how they are talked about now - and this is mostly because of the way their commercialisation has grown.
In my youth my sources (Robert Carrier, Elizabeth David et al.) all talk about hunting shooting them and whether you should 'hang' them or not. They are definitely regarded as game and I think they were probably only available in expensive restaurants. They were an aristocratic delicacy. But all that hunting has led them to being endangered in the wild and they are now a protected species in England (and elsewhere). I gather there are actually several different birds that are classed as quail (a bit like sardines), and that they are very easy to keep and breed - indeed they breed like the proverbial rabbits, as the female lays a sizeable clutch of eggs, and several times a year. Hence their commercialisation and farming - from being kept in awful conditions like the worst of chicken farms, to sort of free range. Unlike chickens they can fly - and in the wild migrate at the change of seasons, but I guess they are either kept in covered barns or enclosures or else their wings are clipped. All of which I don't like to think about really - indeed I do sometimes think I should be a vegetarian although I do like meat and it's so difficult to cook as a vegetarian all the time. But that's for another day. I ramble. Here in Australia we apparently farm the Japanese quail - and indeed the Asians have been eating quail since a few hundred years BC and have often depicted them in their beautiful art. Japanese on the left, Chinese on the right.
Historically speaking they were a great favourite of the ancient Egyptians who found them to be a cheap and easy way to feed people. It's apparently one of the earliest hieroglyphs and one site said that it formed part of the Egyptian word for moon, though I can't find a hieroglyph that demonstrates this. And the Jews on their way out of Egypt asked God for meat and he gave them quails - more than once. Which I found pretty interesting really. They were travelling through the desert after all. Quails must have been prolific, and I guess if that information about their breeding is correct, then they may well have been. Then they were probably the smallest thing in those medieval dishes that served roast large animals with ever smaller ones inside.
Opinion about their modern-day availability and price seems to vary, with several of my sources describing them as inexpensive and others saying the opposite:
"Funny things, quails. They look too small and gimmicky to be serious birds, and they cost too much - around £5 for a packet of four, which will just about serve two - to be an everyday substitute for chicken." Richard Ehrlich
I can't say I have noticed any in the supermarket, but then I haven't looked. They are probably available in the specialist poultry shop next door to Coles though - and at the Queen Victoria Market. Some of my sources also implied that you could buy them boned - but I bet that is an expensive option. So should I try? Maggie Beer (of course) loves them and Delia seems to be a convert:
"I am a self-confessed quail convert, having shunned them for years as being undersized and fiddly. I was wrong. They are plump and meaty and, because they are self-contained, they are one of the easiest birds to cook and serve." Delia Smith
I'm guessing that modern-day farming has improved the birds so that they have more meat on them.
So what about cooking them? I gather the main danger is them drying out - very quick cooking - only a quarter of an hour or so, lots of basting and marinades are good. You can find heaps of recipes on the web - favourite methods seem to be vaguely Middle-Eastern - with a sort of sweet and sour flavour.
As for the eggs. Now that I think about it I saw some in the market when we went there a couple of weeks ago. This is what they look like - very pretty! But small.
However, I also gather that they are very nutritious - more so than chicken's eggs. So you would have to wonder why they are not more commercially available. I guess the eggs are mostly kept to breed more quail to eat. Must see if the eggs have appeared in the supermarket as yet. But then there aren't any duck's eggs there either. Delia might be a convert to quails themselves, but she does say that peeling quail eggs (I guess when they are boiled) is a real chore.
All in all I don't see myself rushing out to buy any. All a bit too hard - though Delia said she used to feel much the same ... Maybe for my next dinner party. It would be impressive wouldn't it?
