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Late Autumn Meat/Fish (Mid-September through Early October)
Duck
Recipes
- Ducks may have been the first domesticated birds. It is known that the Chinese and the Egyptians kept them over 4,000 years ago.
- The mallard, ancestor of most varieties of domestic duck, is one of the most popular wild game ducks. Mallards are known as "dabbling ducks" because of the way they feed. They tip their heads under water to nibble at plants while leaving their
tails visible above, sort of like bobbing for apples.
- In addition to dabblers, there are also "diving ducks" and "perching ducks." Divers frequent deeper waters, like lagoons and estuaries. They feed by diving completely under water to reach the plants below. The eider and merganser are divers.
Perching ducks, which include the muscovy, have clawed feet that allow them to grab hold of tree limbs. Often they build their nests in trees, unlike other ducks, who roost on the ground.
- Being water birds, ducks have a thick layer of fat to insulate them from the cold. This means that there's less meat on a duck than on a chicken of the same size, so keep that in mind when planning a meal. Most ducks available in markets are
quite young, so the term duckling and duck can be interchangeable. Officially, though, a duckling is less than 2 months old.
Snipe and Woodcock
Recipes
- The woodcock and its smaller relative, the snipe, are migratory shorebirds who fly north in the spring and chase the warm weather southward in the fall. They are very popular with hunters, both for the superior flavor of their meat and because
their intriguing flight patterns make shooting them quite a challenge. As with many kinds of game, their habitats have been significantly reduced by expanding development, so the US Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed to shorten woodcock hunting
seasons to help maintain the populations.
- Woodcock and snipe are most active at dusk and on overcast days. While the sun is up, they tend to keep still. Woodcock, in particular, are known for hiding motionless in the underbrush, even when a hunter walks right past them. They have eyes
set so far back on their heads that they have nearly 360-degree vision, so they are capable of spotting a predator and watching his every step until he passes them by. If a hunter manages to flush a woodcock, it bursts out of the grass with a sudden rush
and soars upward almost vertically before racing to safety in a high, swirling flight pattern.
- The woodcock's mating ritual is a popular attraction for bird watchers. Again, the bird (male) flies upward, to a height of 200 or 300 feet. Then he plunges down, swirling and singing. The distinctive warbling of a mating woodcock is called
peenting, because it sounds as if he is saying "peent."
- A "snipe hunt" is such a well-known practical joke/initiation ritual that some people don't even realize there really is such a bird as a snipe -- and that it is,
indeed, hunted.
- A flock of snipes is known as a "wisp."
- Woodcock and snipe have dark meat is on the breast and light meat on the legs -- the exact opposite of chicken. This is because well-used muscle becomes dark meat. Chickens are flightless, scarcely using the muscles across their breasts at all,
and relying instead on their legs to move around. Woodcock and snipe stay as still as possible when on the ground, but they fly often and vigorously.
Scallops, Bay and Sea
Recipes
- Scallops are bivalve mollusks, like oysters. But you're never going to encounter scallops "on the half shell." The only part of the scallop that is usually eaten is its large adductor muscle -- and it is nearly always cooked. The shells never
make an appearance at fish markets. In fact, sea scallops are shucked right on the boat after they are caught, so the shells never even make it to shore.
- In spite of the fact that one rarely sees a real scallop shell these days, the symmetrical, fan-shaped shell is familiar to all. It appears often in art. During
the Middle Ages, it was worn by people who were on their way to worship at the shrine of the martyred St. James, in Compostela, Spain. Over time, the scallop shell became symbolically associated with James (hence the French term for scallops, coquilles St.
Jacques,, or St. James' shells), who became the patron saint of all pilgrims. The origins of the symbol are not clear. One story holds that, as the boat carrying the body of St. James landed at the coast of Spain, a horse on shore bolted into the water,
carrying its rider to certain death. But neither horse nor horseman drowned. Instead they were miraculously raised to the surface, covered with scallop shells.
- The scallop is fairly unusual for a mollusk, in that it remains free-floating throughout its life, rather than attaching to a stationary object. It swims by opening and closing the two halves of its shell. The clapping motion propels it
backward through the water.
- Sea scallops are the largest commercial scallops, growing up to 2 inches across. They are harvested along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Labrador, and have a peak season of March through early December.
- Bay scallops are considerably smaller than sea scallops. They are particularly tender and sweet, and are generally more expensive. They found in bays along the northeastern Atlantic coast of America, and are best between October and December.
- It almost seems redundant to say that scallops should be as fresh as possible and to watch out for overcooking them. After all, isn't that true of most seafood? Yes, but it's so especially true of scallops that it's worth repeating. Fresh, raw
scallops will not last longer than a day in the refrigerator. And the perfectly cooked scallop is sweet and velvety, while one that was heated just a bit too long is fibrous and chewy. Keep an eye on the skillet or the casserole dish.
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