pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1/4 pint of rice, parsley and
butter.
_Mode_.--Truss the fowl as for boiling, and put it into a stewpan with
sufficient clear well-skimmed mutton broth to cover it; add the onion,
mace, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; stew very gently for about 1
hour, should the fowl be large, and about 1/2 hour before it is ready
put in the rice, which should be well washed and soaked. When the latter
is tender, strain it from the liquor, and put it on a sieve reversed to
dry before the fire, and, in the mean time, keep the fowl hot. Dish it,
put the rice round as a border, pour a little parsley and butter over
the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.
_Time_.--A large fowl, 1 hour.
_Average cost_, in full season, 2s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
[Illustration: DORKINGS.]
THE DORKING.--This bird takes its name from that of a town in
Surrey, where the breed is to be found in greater numbers, and
certainly in greater perfection, than elsewhere. It is generally
believed that this particular branch of poultry was found in the
town above mentioned as long ago as the Roman era. The Dorking's
chief characteristic is that he has five claws on each foot; the
extra claw, however, is never of sufficient length to encumber
the foot, or to cause it to "drag" its nest, or scratch out the
eggs. The colour of the true Dorking is pure white; long in the
body, short in the legs, and a prolific layer. Thirty years ago,
there was much controversy respecting the origin of the Dorking.
The men of Sussex declared that the bird belonged to them, and
brought birds indigenous to their weald, and possessing all the
Dorking fine points and peculiarities, in proof of the
declaration. Others inclined to the belief that the Poland bird
was the father of the Dorking, and not without at least a show
of reason, as the former bird much resembles the latter in
shape; and, despite its sombre hue, it is well known that the
Poland cock will occasionally beget thorough white stock from
white English hens. The commotion has, however, long ago
subsided, and Dorking still retains its fair reputation for
fowl.
CURRIED FOWL.