zxcvbob wrote:

> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>> Katra wrote:
>>
>>> In article <oJA8d.205692$3l3.96936@attbi_s03>,
>>> "Gualtier Malde (Chuck)" > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have to cook a swan.
>>>>
>>>> Chuck

But the OP has a problem he hasn't considered. No matter what he
roasts, it'll always be a "Chuck Roast."

>>> Look up some goose recipes.
>>>
>>> I've never eaten one, but being a water bird, they should be similar
>>> to goose. :-)
>>
>> Actually, not. Full-grown swans are tough, not as fat, and not very
>> tasty. I'd brine it and lard it. Fill under the skin with some kind of
>> fat, maybe a seasoned butter and drape sheets of some kind of fat over
>> it, if roasting.
>>
>> If I had my absolute choice (assuming I *had* to eat it), I'd do a
>> covered-pan roast, almost a braise. That way you can add flavors that
>> will end up in the liquid that can serve as the base for a masking gravy.
>>
>>> K. (who sees nothing wrong with eating excess swans.....)
>>
>> Except they're not very good eating once past about 3 months old.
>>
>> Maybe take a page from the hypersilly stuff from the medieval banquet
>> table. Stuff it with a turkey. And a duck. And a chicken. And a guinea
>> fowl. And a cornish hen. And Aunt Minnie's canary.
>>
>> Pastorio
>>
> I'd go the other direction with it.
>
> How about boil it for a day and a half with some root vegetables until
> it falls apart and serve with dumplings? A 20 pound swan will probably
> feed *at least* 50 people if the dumplings are heavy enough. Wha'd'ya
> think?
>
> Or grind the swan up with some fatty pork and make sausage.
> Or meatloaf.
>
> The other folks are expecting a grand presentation, wouldn't it be funny
> to serve it in a nondescript and unrecognizable way that could have been
> anything?
>
> (You can always roast a small turkey and just say it was the swan.)

Right. Call it "Mama's swan and dumplings." Serve it with the
traditional crown and scepter since swan was reserved for royalty.
Should be a big hit at the old trailer park, huh...?

A linguistic thing he A duckling is a small duck. What, then, is a
dumpling?

Just askin' is all...

Pastorio