// Workers AI · dad joke modeDoes parrot pie tweet its ingredients?
Parrot pie is a dish historically eaten in Australia.
Parrots have been baked into pies in Australia since the first voyage of James Cook. Sydney Parkinson, an artist hired to make botanical illustrations reported seeing upon landing in Botany Bay a "great number of birds of beautiful plumage; among which there were two sorts of parroquets, and a beautiful loriquet; we shot a few of them, which we made into a pie and they ate very well."[1] By the 1820s, the sale of parrots was established in Sydney markets. Birds were trapped or taken from their nests, including king parrots, crimson rosellas, rainbow lorikeets, galahs and sulphur-crested cockatoos, depending on the season. Pies were a common preparation for the birds, for which a dozen could be bought for a shilling.[2][3]
Several settlers writing in the mid-19th century spoke highly of parrot pie, including Katherine Kirkland, who opined that the best were made with white parrots,[4] and Sarah Brunskill, who likened the flavour to pigeon.[3] A recipe from the end of the century indicated that only the breast and thigh were used for meat, which needed long simmering to become tender, with the carcass used for stock.[2][a] Recipes could include parrot as the only form of meat (as was the preference of Wilhelmina Rawson, who added white sauce flavoured with nutmeg and parsley), or several, as in the 1889 recipe given by Margaret Pearson:[6]
Cut the birds into two, and rub well with butter, place the slices of beef in a pie dish and place on them birds and slices of ham, cut in neat pieces the boiled eggs and add, then pour in a cup of well-seasoned stock: cover over with rough puff paste, decorate with cut leaves, etc., from the paste, stick the legs and feet well cleaned and blanched into the centre.
In Britain, the 1888 edition of Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management included a recipe for parrot pie in a section on Australian cooking, containing a dozen parakeets. Its inclusion, and the inclusion of other Australian recipes like roast wallaby became a source of ridicule.[7] In Australia, parrot pies remained popular into the early 20th century,[2] when the dish was regarded as a quintessentially Australian dish.[8] During the second half of the 19th century, legislation to protect native fauna had expanded, and in 1918 some parrots became a protected species in Australia for the first time. They continued to appear in cookbooks, although only rarely, and as a curiosity.[9] Parrots are no longer commonly eaten in Australia.[5]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Olsen 2006, p. 7.
- 1 2 3 Santich 2012, p. 45.
- 1 2 Olsen 2006, p. 8.
- ↑ Santich 2012, p. 42.
- 1 2 Olsen 2006, p. 10.
- ↑ Olsen 2006, p. 9.
- ↑ David 1986, p. 307.
- ↑ Santich 2012, pp. 16–17.
- ↑ van Reyk & Boehrer 2005, pp. 14–16.
Sources
[edit]- David, Elizabeth (1986). An Omelette and a Glass of Wine. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-046721-1.
- Olsen, Penny (June 2006). "A penchant for parrot pie". National Library of Australia News. 16 (9). doi:10.3316/informit.067187364181811.
- Santich, Barbara (2012). Bold Palates: Australia's Gastronomic Heritage. Kent Town, South Australia: Wakefield Press. ISBN 978-1-74305-113-9.
- van Reyk, Paul; Boehrer, Bruce (Spring 2005). "Antipodean Psittacophagy: An Exchange". Gastronomica. 5 (2). doi:10.1525/gfc.2005.5.2.9.