More delicious spring recipes including asparagus with morels, poached chicken, and vegetables ‘a la Grecque’
- Tomorrow: 20 best spring recipes part 3
The breasts of smaller birds, such as pigeons, are perfect for grilling, as they are small enough to cook fairly quickly – ideal for barbecues, in fact. It is important also to make the distinction between wild wood pigeons and the more expensive reared, squab variety. There is no official shooting season for wood pigeons, although they are probably at their most plentiful towards the end of the feathered-game season straight after Christmas. However, they make particularly good eating in the spring and early summer, as their feed changes from the slightly bitter acorns and berries and so on, to the sweeter feed naturally provided by warmer months. Squab pigeons are reared purely for eating and as they do not fly and scrap in the wild, the meat will usually be slightly more tender. Whatever you do, do not overcook any pigeon, as the naturally lean meat is not forgiving if exposed to too much or too prolonged a period of heat.