If you want a low-fat, iron-rich, tasty meat that’s quick to cook, cheap and plentiful, May has the answer. The wily wood pigeon is abundant for much of the year, but it’s when the fresh shoots of spring arrive that the pigeon party really starts, and this is the ideal time to eat them.
Fields drilled with rapeseed and wheat back in March become a magnet for vast flocks of these birds, who first plunder the newly planted seeds and then strip new green growth from the young plants. With more than ten million pigeons in the UK, farmers can expect regular visits from their feathery friends right through to the harvest season, when grain crops provide even richer pickings (or peckings). Growers always expect to lose a proportion of their crops to pigeons but a heavy infestation can be devastating, so you really will be doing some good by enjoying this rich, red meat.
It’s because they are such proficient food-finders that pigeons can be eaten most of the year round. But it’s in late spring and early summer that young birds (squabs) hatched earlier in the year will be particularly plump and tender.
Incidentally, you should never make the mistake of confusing a wild pigeon with the feral variety found in city centres. They’re literally breeds apart, and a fresh wood pigeon is a very attractive, clean-living bird with bright, iridescent plumage. A pigeon breast, properly cooked, can be as good as a rare steak, with a very slightly gamey note, but at a fraction of the cost.
You’ll find them in most butchers and markets throughout the spring and for much of the rest of the year.
Try: Warm salad of pigeon breast, charred spring onion and bacon (p. 117)