Game Pie

GAME PIE

Game food evidently was popular in old Macau; hunting was popular and provided the game.

Diced Game Pie from “Guilly” Canavarro Remedios

We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.

PIE

2 hen pheasants
1 hare
2 dsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin)
1 level dsp allspice
3 dsp wine
a dash of cayenne pepper
2 tsp chopped parsley
¼ lb | 110g sliced bacon, cut in ½” | 1¼ cm pieces

Take all the meat from the pheasant and hare and keep all the bones and gristle for stock. Dice all the, keeping the pheasant and hare meat separate. Add half the Worcestershire sauce, allspice, cayenne pepper and wine to the pheasant and half to the hare.

Put half the hare pieces in a round cake tin for the first layer, level it and sprinkle some the chopped parsley all over. Then add a layer of the bacon then a layer using half the pheasant. Repeat the process to use up all the meat.

Bake in a very slow oven till cooked ½ hour(1).

 (1) This seems to be a misprint: more likely it should read 1-2 hr.

JELLY

bones of the pheasants and hare
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
1 onion
2 carrots
celery (optional)
salt
sheets of French leaf gelatine
white wine or good sherry
sauce(2) to taste

bones of the pheasants and hare
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
1 onion
2 carrots
celery (optional)
salt
sheets of French leaf gelatine
white wine or good sherry
sauce(2) to taste

(2) The type of sauce was not specified; it is probably Worcestershire. 

To serve, dip in warm water for ½ min and shake out on a plate.

We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.

2 hen pheasant
¼ lb | 110g venison
3 wild ducks
1 lb | 450g Western ham in slices
salt and pepper
1½ qt water
2 carrots
1 lemon peel or celery (optional)
2 bay leaves
2 onions

Wash the game well, season with salt and pepper inside and outside, place on a baking tray, dab a little lard over each game and roast till cooked. When they are quite cold, slice all thinly and put aside.

Put the gravy into the pan and take away all the fat. Chop all the bones of the roast and put together in the pan adding 1½ quart of water, onions, bay leaves and carrots. Simmer for about 1 hour. Stir well to get all the taste out. Then strain and when quite cold take every bit of the fat out.

Clarify as in the recipe for Diced Game Pie above.

Game in aspic from Maria Augusta da Encarnação

We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.

1 pheasant
l-2 lb | 450-900g venison meat in one piece
ordinary cooking sherry
2 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
1 tsp all-spice
¼ lb (110g) bacon if desired
2 stalks celery
1 large carrot
1 large onion
2 egg whites and shell
2 hard-boiled eggs (for decoration)
2 tbsp pears, carrots, green olives, or any suitable decoration

Wash pheasant clean slit at the back, and press it flat. Wash venison meat and leave whole. Lay pheasant in with breast downward in a fairly large pot and place the venison also as close as possible to the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle all-spice all over, add bay leaves, peppercorn, carrots, onion and salt. Pour enough cooking sherry to about half cover the meat. Put pot in a low fire and let simmer till quite tender.

Put pot aside till contents are quite cold, so that the juices can get into the meat to give moisture and taste. When cold remove all the skin, bones and any gristle from the pheasant. Also remove any gristle from the venison. Break up or slice these meats.

Drain the liquid from the pot, and pour just a little of it on the prepared meat. Leave the rest of the liquid aside for later.

Chop up the bones and skin very small, put in a pot and add 1½ quart (1.5l) cold water and a little salt. Bring to the boil, skim, add celery, and bacon in whole; if a stronger flavor is preferred, add l-2 more bay leaves and 1 more carrot. Simmer gently till the stock has reduced to about 1 quart (1.2l) Stir and crush the bones occasionally, so as to draw out all the taste. When ready, strain the soup into a bowl and let it get quite cold. Also drain the little liquid from the meat stock into the hot soup.

When this soup is quite cold there will be a thick layer of fat on the surface. Spoon off the all the fat carefully (as it would make the jelly blurred).

Measure the quantity of soup. For every pint | 600ml of liquid use 1 oz (28g) leaf gelatine (9 leaves, more or less). In cold weather 2-3 sheets less can be omitted. Soak gelatine in cold water until quite soft, then strain well.

Break 2 eggs whites into a fairly large pan. Take off the inside skin from the shell, crush the shells and add to the egg whites. Beat these two together for two minutes or so, add the cold soup, and the strained gelatine . Put on a low fire and stir the contents continually so that the shells do not stick to the bottom and burn. 1-2 minutes before it comes to the boil stop stirring. There will gradually be a thick froth on the surface. Boil gently for 5 minutes. Take off the fire, gently scoop out the sponge with a flat slotted spoon.

Find a clean sugar bag or linen bag and boil before use. Strain the jelly through the bag into a clean bowl. (Never squeeze the bag to force the liquid out as this will blur the jelly.) When every drop of liquid has gone through the bag, put the jelly aside to cool.

The jelly can be set in a lightly oiled a cake tin or a jelly mould. (Oiling eases the turning out of the jelly from the cake tin.) If using a mould, dip in lukewarm water for a few seconds before turning out.

Array hard-boiled egg slices, and the fruits and vegetables on the bottom of the cake tin or mould. Pour about a couple spoonfuls of jelly over the decoration, taking care not to get them out of place. Let set.

When firm, add more liquid jelly to cover the decorations with a layer about an inch thick, and let set again.

When firm, bring out and put layers of the prepared meat in the centre of the cake tin or mould, leaving a space of ½ inch from edge (to allow space for more decorations and jelly). Put decorations around the upper part of the mould, pour jelly gently, not over the meat, but on the side nearer the tin. Fill mould gently with jelly and chill till serving time.

Turn out on an attractive platter, and decorate with parsley, or a good salad.

Another method for coating jelly mould: Have two moulds or tins, one large one and the other just a little smaller, but of course of the same shape. Put some spoons of jelly in the large tin, and put the smaller tin into it and see that the jelly is enough to reach the brim of the outside mould. Put decorations around the upper part of the mould, pour jelly gently, not over the meat, but on the side nearer the tin. Fill mould gently with jelly and chill till serving time. Turn out on an attractive platter, and decorate with parsley, or a good salad around.

Game in aspic from an author identified only as Mãe (Mother)

We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.

1 duck
6 quails
2 calf’s feet made into clarified jelly(1)
1 pheasant
1 leg of venison
1 hare
3 lbs (1.3kg) soup meat made into 6 cups of stock
1 pkt. gelatine
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp nutmeg powder
½ tsp all spice
¼ tsp mace
½ tsp mixed spice
2 claret glasses of port wine
2 claret glasses of sherry
1 pint | 600ml Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)

(1)     The method is given in Geléia de Pé de Vaca

Clean the game, cut them into regular size, season with salt and pepper piece by piece. Bake them but not thoroughly.

Butter a large serving bowl that can tolerate oven temperatures. Place the game into the bowl and sprinkle well with the powdered spices. Add the wines and Worcestershire sauce and stand for 24 hours.

Bake all again until well cooked and take out game. Soak the gelatine a little in cold water(2) and then mix well with the gravy from the bowl and salt and pepper according to taste.

Last of all return the game into the bowl, pour the clarified jelly up to the brim and let it stand till set.

(2)     This step was not in the original recipe.

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