Bucket list foods, everyone has them. There’s a number of them still on mine, but a little while ago I got to scratch peacock off the list.
My girlfriends mother build a farm community in Wisconsin in the 70’s and is still very much plugged in to the local scene. She knows who grows which crops where, what their personal history is, and those little tidbits of information you can only get from being a local. A while back she and I were talking about the possibility of helping her friend sell a bunch of surplus garlic. Someone had agreed to purchase a bunch at the beginning of the season from him, but then reneged after the harvest-no good if your on the selling side.
She also mentioned in passing that he produces a tasty variety of Scotch Highland beef, and had peacocks. I love good beef, but I was curious what he kept the peacocks for, since ever since I’d read about them being served in Ancient Rome I wanted to eat one, along with a swan. Turns out the peacocks were pets, starting with one bird that appeared after leaving a nearby farmstead. Her friend did some checking around with the peacock’s previous owners and found out they didn’t exactly expect/want it back, long story short they let it stay and eventually decided to find a mate for it.
Cows on the farm where the peacocks live.
Why didn’t the neighbor’s care about the loss of their pretty bird? I’m assuming, but there’s more to a peacock than it’s beautiful feathers: they also make a *very* distinct sound. There’s probably someone out there that would love their day’s punctuated by peacock noises, which I’ve heard compared to a woman and or children screaming, but it isn’t everyone.
I asked my girlfriend’s mom to inquire about getting one to eat. The landowner agreed, and a couple months later I was on the property with two men and a rifle.
A few sets of mating birds (and little baby peacock chicks) strolled around the yard as they pleased, so as much as I’d like to tell you a heart-pounding story where I tracked a peacock through rugged Wisconsin valleys by a breadcrumb trail of blue feathers, I can’t, we just walked into the front yard and shot it. It was an ugly shot too, through both breasts and a leg-not the pretty professional ending you think of (or don’t) from time to time when you eat poultry.
After we took down the bird (a 4-year old male) I got to hear the sound a peacock makes from a nearby bird. I can see where the scream comparison comes from, but I thought it had more of a primal edge to it. To me it was like a pteroydactyl flying through the sky ready to eat some terrified four-legged creature. Needless to say, I’ll stay with chickens if I ever have backyard birds, maybe ducks.
After an arduous two and a half hours of blanching, plucking and a quick gutting it was done. The old boy was a lot harder to pluck than a young bird, that’s for sure, as I needed a needle-nosed pliers to finish the job. After that I even shaved it with a straight razor to get it perfectly smooth since lets be honest: if an animal’s got skin that can be rendered a salty, crispy, golden brown, you want to eat that, yes you do.
Finally the fun part. First thing I did was separate the bird into breasts, leg quarters, neck/head, scrap trim and bones. Scrap and bones made a fantastic stock, which you’d expect, but I knew the rest of the bird would be challenging, as tame as it seemed it was still a wild thing, with four years of exercise under it’s belt, I knew a tender bird wasn’t what I had.
It wasn’t my first rodeo with poultry though-here’s some things you could do with older peacocks, or any birds really. Their flavor is probably closest to pheasant or turkey, so that’s a good place to start thinking about flavor combinations with them.
Cooking Different Parts of the Bird
Breasts
These are probably the most difficult to work with, since they’re don’t have the fatty, slow-twitch muscle fiber of legs that takes well to long cooking. If your bird is plucked, you can always make the skin crisp and pan roast it, then slice it very thin, but most people will probably still find the meat tough.
One of my favorite tricks I keep up my sleeve for scrap or tough meat is the good old forcemeat, which is great if you’ve just breasted-out your birds, or you’ve been given some that weren’t plucked. Take the skinless meat, dice it up and add a fake fat, most of the time being breadcrumbs and cream or milk. It works wonders on lean meat, and I’ve used it to fix everything from faulty ravioli fillings to sausages that lack the proper meat-fat emulsification ratio.
Tough breast meat makes great dumplings.
Of course, you could also just take the meat, grind it, then mix it with breadcrumbs soaked in milk, and a couple eggs as per meat loaf, which will give you a less smooth, more chunky result, perfect if you want to make a terrine or meatballs.
The Legs
I knew these would be my favorite part since they’re surrounded by fat and bone. For me, there’s no better method for tough poultry legs than confit. I season the legs with salt, fresh bay leaves and thyme, then allow them to sit overnight. The next day, you cover the legs with lard in a covered cooking vessel and cook at 250 until the meat is nice and fork tender, which should take a good 2-3 hours, then I remove the legs from the fat and carefully take out all the pin bones from the drumsticks. Afterwords the legs are allowed to cool in the fat, and as long as there’s an unbroken, air-tight seal of fat, the meat can be allowed to age for months or more.
Peacock thigh confit, with chanterelles and leeks.
When I prepare them to eat, I just heat an oven to 250-300, then sear the meat skin side down and cook in the oven until hot throughout. The thigh on the peacock was big enough for me to have a complete meal, but you could probably eat a whole, impressive looking leg as a large entree or a meal for two, mine was about the size of a goose leg.
The Head, Neck, Guts and Feet
The funbits. The feet were cleaned and put into stock. The head I roasted to crisp up the skull and make it brittle, so you can cleanly cut it in half to extract the brains which were great, mild and not very gamey at all-I eat them with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of crunchy salt.
The gizzard, heart and liver I cleaned and since I only had one bird, soaked them overnight in milk, then ground them with some of the forcemeat I made from the breasts to make sausage.
The real prize was the neck, it was so long, I’d never really seen anything like it. Other birds like ducks and turkeys will have a similarly long neck, but I’d never seen a carcass with such a long neck before. I wanted to do something special with it, specifically I wanted to stuff the peacock neck full of forcemeat sausage, it turned out very good.
Recipes
Here’s the recipes I’ve developed so far for them
Two years ago, my husband and I bought a piece of property in Central Texas next to a peacock ,maybe hobby, farm. I thought their occasional calls sounded exotic and beautiful. The previous owner explained they were a nuisance because the birds come on the property and can be destructive. In 6months, we found it to be true. They scratched up our vehicles, they woke us early in the morning clawing and pecking at the vents on our roof. They attacked all of our animals on the property, they would shred anything paper, left outside. We tried everything to scare them off. Even shooting feathers off of them would not get them to leave. Their owners didn’t speak english. Game warden only gave us the option to small claims court. So, one day. We shot a female. Not wanting to waste such a big bird. We cleaned and dressed her and into the crockpot….Delicious! We thought, surely the neighbors will notice a missing bird and will keep better handle of the rest. Nope! So, we have ate 8 peacocks. I can tell you we’ve tried smoking them, roasting them, wrapped in bacon and grilling them, brined and slow roast them…best results have been in the crockpot.
Wow. That is a lot of peacocks! You are one of the very few people I know who’ve cooked them. I thought it was just fine, if treated right.
Butiful birds let us watch and enjoy.
Sometimes my litter heart wants to burst when I take in all of the buti of this world.
I was dismayed in this whole situation not so much in that you killed such a magnificent creature merely to eat it- so you could say you had eaten one- but rather you showed no respect for or towards it. No mention was made of its spectacular beauty- only meager accounts of the cries peafowl make. Killing one is bad enough, but to kill one solely for the egoistic striking off a life’s bucket list seems macabre at best, and wanton without awe or respect- psychotic at worst. Shame on you. Wake up and admire the things you bring destruction to in your quest for culinary recognition. -M. M. Martin
Keyboard warrior. The landowners were growing tired of the peacock cries, and while I was there, told me they wanted the flock thinned, and would have let us take many more than one if we wanted, so the other option was that someone shoots them, throws the carcass in the woods, and lets it rot without using it. At least in my version, every part of an animal, that lived a very happy life I may add, with the exception of one bad day they didn’t see coming, gets used. This article glorifies alternative meats, and free-range animals, in a world where most people think poultry is a boneless skinless chicken breast raised in a antibiotic fueled, feces-laden animal feeding operation.
And to say I have no respect for these birds? Did you not see the photos of a plucked peacock? I’m dying over here! Do you have any idea how long it takes to pluck a 5-6 year old bird, or the care that goes into something like that? The vast majority of poultry hunters strip the breasts off, and throw the rest away. I shaved the peacock’s damn neck with a razor to remove the feather roots to use as a sausage casing, so that I could share it with people who will never get the chance to see something like that. I’m offering a glimpse reality, and a suggestion that variety, and whole animal utilization is a good thing. To say that my culinary curiosity lacks respect for animals, or is psychotic smacks of ignorance re: where meat comes from.
—-Alan
Civility, Mr. Bergo, civility. I did not call you psychotic- read that passage again. I said at worst you may be psychotic. I do not know you, so I cannot pass that judgement. I raise peacocks as pets. I have many of them. I have hatched and raised many, amongst animals of all kinds from giraffes to ostriches, cassowaries to kinkajous, flamingos to zebras. And yes, I did have a friend whose prized male peacock got startled and flew up into the rafter and broke his neck. She couldn’t stand to bury it, so I offered to cook it. Yes, cleaning it was arduous. The skin was thin and tore easy. It was very angular and difficult to work with. We cleaned it, and cooked it, but i could not eat it. I AM NOT A VEGAN. With your hostile words, I could say you are a Trump supporter.. do not make assumptions. I was raised on a farm and have slaughtered many animals in my youth. But, eating a peacock seems vulgar in a world that has lost its class and graciousness. My partner is a chef, so I know the ins-and outs of that world, thank you very much. Marcus
I will end this by saying that I do enjoy reading your stories about your excursions looking for mushrooms and your photography is glorious. You are a very talented chef. Cheers. M
Why do you have to bring Trump supporters into this? Talk about judgmental. You need to get some class, M
Marcus, while you are trying very hard to come off as educated, you fall very short my friend. You chastise about civility then attack him. You say “at worst case psychotic” berate him for neglecting to mention how beautiful it was while alive, accuse him of being a Trump supporter. 1. You do not know that person, nor do I yet you felt comfortable in baiting him and then calling HIM out for not being civilized! 2. This thread is about the eating of peacocks so one would assume readers would already be aware of the beauty and magnificence of these birds. 3. While you do attempt to come across as educated you came across as asinine. 4. To kill an animal then let it rot is a sin. If one can harvest and use it that gives honor and meaning to it’s life. And yes I am farm raised and bloody proud of it. 5. I will end this with you my friend “at the worst case scenario comes across as suffering from low-level megalomania. PS. In the future remember this law….for every action there is a reaction of equal magnitude in the opposite direction. So next time you fling about insults and innuendos do not be surprised when people put you back in your small box. ~Peace~
I agree with Alan.
Peacock lovers can take all they want from my property in Saint James City, Florida. They are a nuisance, destroy my garden and poop on my roof. Irresponsible neighbors are to blame for not caging their peacock. I have tried all types of deterrents for the past three years. Neither the county or State Wildlife will do nothing. In Florida they are considered farm animals and not wildlife. I have had enough and I will be shooting their heads off one by one when they come on my property. I am still researching the best way to cook them. Has anyone smoked them or are they too lean for that?
FYI: KFC’s chickens did not volunteer to be bathed in oil (original or extra crispy) and were not slaughtered because they were ugly either.
Hey Michael, yeah that sounds tricky if you’re neighbors keep them as pets. I’d pick them off too if they came on my property. You can certainly smoke them, and that’s probably the easiest way to treat the breasts of an older bird, just like you would wild turkey. Just brine the breasts for a few days using a ham brine, then smoke until cooked through. My friend Hank Shaw over at hunter angler gardener cook has a recipe for smoked turkey that would work fine.
Thanks Alan. I do remember brine in ice water for some friends who brought down some pheasants a few years ago. I used very dry mangrove that was seasoned by ocean water. It was a hot smoking process. The meat was lean and very good. A little dry but that was not an issue. That’s all we used brine and mangrove smoke.
You treated the bird just fine. You used all of the animal and nothing went to waste. I only wish I had been a dinner guest.
i think its sad that anyone would eat a peacock….. I agree with your comment.. well said
It’s unfortunate that we have to kill any animal for meat at all, but ethically, thinking an animal shouldn’t be eaten because of how it looks, or because it’s “prettier” than another animal is a superficial, vain way to think of animals and their feelings.
Do you not eat beef, or pork, or chicken, do you wear belts, shoes, anything made of leather, or do you just admire them and eat nuts and go naked?
First and foremost, I have dealt with a peacock terrorizing my compound. Yes they are beautiful but they are large territorial birds and they try to take over your private space and even intimidate any animals you might have in the house. I’m going to buy a sling shot so if I see that peacock that is terrorizing my house, gbam and its gone!
I like the slingshot George, silent like a ninja!
So the beauty of a creature lies only in it’s aesthetic appeal? Perhaps there is beauty in it’s ability to nourish the viewer via consumption. If the peacock was ugly, would you have made this comment? Perhaps it is the act of reducing value to appearance that is psychotic…
Marcus: I love creatures, great and small, but once you have to listen to the wailing of peacocks and peahens, and watch them destroy your vegetable garden, you, too, would shoot ”em, each and every one.
You’re disgusting
Play nice or I’ll name a peacock recipe after you.
This entire conversation is hilarious!! Hahahahaha!!!!! You’re comebacks to the Keyboard Commandos are more than excellent. From the seemingly intelligent yet ignorant Marcus, to the lady that should be honored with a new Peacock recipe in her name, you out classed and put them in their place quite eloquently.
My wife and I have also inadvertently become subjects of several Peafowl and have also wondered how palatable they might be. That tells the entire story!!
I’ll be looking forward to reading more of your delicious and funny recipes.
Pete/Rachael
*your ????
Pete, yes, a great thread!
Alan. We love you.
We have over 100 peacocks on the farm we live on. Pain in the ass they are, landlady will not get rid of any.
You didn’t mention the amount of shit they leave.
Stay cool,
Jo and ash.
Xx
Thanks for chiming in, I’m making a note of peacock poop. I seriously feel for you, 100 peacocks?! I can’t even imagine the sound.
I have enjoyed reading all the comments about peafowl, and ways to cook them. My main complaint about them is they leave their calling cards everywhere, including back and front porches. my pool deck, driveway, roof, everywhere. They are not trainable. I found this site by exploring good ways to cook this bird. For those that think this bird is too pretty to kill and eat, I will assume you’re vegan. But if you eat chicken, turkey, beef, pig, lamb, farmed fish and shrimp, etc., your argument is invalid. Get real, Thank you Alan for your site.
Thanks Phil. The thought of training pea fowl is making me crack up over here. Good on you, and thanks for your perspective. A
Well. if the thought of training peafowl is cracking you up, visualize me hosing them down while telling them to get out of here, or running after them for 2 minutes while growling at them, or chasing them with my drone, or hurling my frizbee at them, or getting on my mountain bike and chasing them all over the 2 acres (good exercise). Their attention span is about that of a goldfish, unless they have gotten food from you. It’s getting near the end of mating season here in south Florida, I had to put black plastic on the lower half of the French doors so that the alpha male would stop looking at his reflection in the glass, pecking at it, and depositing his calling card on my door mat.(5x in less than 5 minutes). I will also say what I’ve said 100 times or more, the peacock, imo, is the most beautifully feathered bird in the world.
I hope one day something fancies eating you and goes out there way to shot and kill you,then brag about it like and how good you taste and how easy to kill and cook you where,sicko.
The Romans had recipes for Human, and in the texts that survive they can usually be sussed out by finding recipes calling for “sweet veal”. I would be rather tough, and would need a good slow braise. I hope one day you learn to write coherent sentences in English, and stop breathing out of your mouth. Thanks for commenting.
“I hope one day you learn to write coherent sentences in English, and stop breathing out of your mouth. Thanks for commenting.”
Oh, geez, you are brutal. Then again, he also voted and loves Trump, so what the hell.
Thanks for commenting Steve. This post has been the source of a lot of laughs now for years, and here and there it continues to keep giving. Yes, I enjoy the occasional parry. For a little history, cooking on the line, specifically, surviving the hierarchy of professional kitchens often means one either develops a wretched, putrid body of insults, or becomes a pincushion for the others. I was always the alpha male. Sometimes I was quite cruel. When I ran my own kitchens, I had to curb my tongue, but now, as I have no master, I no longer have to bow and scrape to vegans, militant animal rights activists, or food critics, besides the masses. It’s been, liberating, although I try to not make a habit of letting my inner line cook out too much!
Although I see no current posts on here I have absolutely LOVED and LAUGHED my way through this post. Next time you go through your favorite drive through maybe feel sorry for the fish in your sandwich or the cow(s) and pig in your bacon cheese burger. Oh dear should I feel bad for the potatoes that died to make my french fries????
I came looking for the best way to cook peacock and think I will start with the crock pot. Considering how lean they are smoking sounds good if you leave it whole and pack the breast with butter and herbs then lay it in your smoker on a shallow roasting pan in order to keep the butter around the breast to keep it moist. I wonder how it would work out if built into something like a turducken? Maybe de-bone it and start with a pigeon or Cornish hen then a duck then the peacock hmmmmmm I could figure something out to keep it moist.
Hi Jenn, crock pot is fine. As far as smoking goes, you’d want to brine the breasts first for a couple days and make sure to cook them to 150F and no further to keep them juicy. Let me know how I can assist in your peafowlphagy. Alan.
I respect that you “honour the meat” in your recipes (which are really innovative) and make full use of an animal, and I also think that any argument about not eating something because it is pretty is totally shallow and irrelevant XD Great site! I don’t know how/why people who disagree with eating (all? certain? beautiful?) animals end up on these recipe websites anyway, unless they googled it specifically looking for a platform to start a fight 😛
Thank you Emma.
Cleary those who are triggered and butt-hurt about this had a lot of time before the Covid-19 shutdown. I can only imagine what and who those ignorant chokes are harassing with their stimulus checks.
Anyway, thanks for the colorful descriptions and marvelous recipes. I have a little farm raising to self sustain. Peacock is my next poultry to aquire for lawn ornament and food.
Why the photo ? Do we see photo of the animals lying on the floor on the others recipe ? I eat dogs but no post picture. Probably the same people blaming China for eating everything. We not make Corona virus! Shame Shame Shame !
Nyna, I applaud you for the 5 star rating, and hope you can reconcile our different preferences. Personally I would never eat dogs or cats.
I 100% agree withl you. I was apppalled by this person’s boasting about walking up to a beautiful, majestic creature such as these and shooting it in an “ugly kill” as he described it with no utterance of remorse.
I understand hunting as a necessity (which for very few it is) but this is tant amount to big game hunting for which there is NEVER a reason to do. These people choose to kill these magnificent creatures to try & prove something to make themselves feel formidable. Whatever it is, all they’re proving is how small they are in so many ways. It should be illegal to hunt these lovely birds. And you’re a filthy mongrel for killing those helpless creatures.
Thank you for that, your tears are delicious.
Really though, it’s not illegal. Peacocks aren’t bald eagles, and ethnbotanical as well as historical examples of them as a food animal aren’t hard to find. The eggs were prized over all others by the Romans, unfortunately I missed them by a week this year. If you want some next year, be in touch in the spring and I’ll see what I can do, if I ship an omelet overnight with hot packs it could still be warm for you.
I mean seriously, the eating preferences of others, sans say, involuntary cannibalism, aren’t wrong or right. That’s called preference, and mine are just as legal as the peacocks I eat.
Ok, so a buddy of mine found a peacock on a game camera and it rapidly led me to this post (because I want to eat it, because for conservation we need to keep the non-native species out, and I can’t see killing something and not eating it). This post thread is fantastic, and I applaud you for how you handle the detractors.
Just wanted to say thank you for a thorough description, your obvious respect for the animal, and a good laugh in the comments.
Thanks Jesse. The laughs I keep getting from it are more fun than the peacock was 🙂 Enjoy your peafowl, peahen, or whatever you get! I’ll add that I’ve been dying to knick some eggs from them, they were supposedly prized above all others by the Romans. Should be about the size of a turkey egg, and I’m guessing with a beautiful color. A
Alan,
I stumbled across your article on eating peafowl after just trying to find out if you could eat them or not. I greatly enjoyed your story. I have gotten a bigger kick out of the comments.
Having travelled the world, both in and out of the military, where I’ve had the opportunity to eat dishes that another culture might find absurd. We eat cow here, but in India that wouldn’t fly. They regularly eat horse in Europe but here that’s frowned on. Likewise, monkey brains, fermented duck egg, etc.
So for people to jump in here and call you “disgusting” or “…psychotic at worst…” is hilarious. Who are they to judge what others eat? Show me something someone eats and I’ll find you another person that finds it odd or disgusting. But until you try something, you shouldn’t judge another for it….
That being said, I’m looking forward to trying one of your recipes for peafowl….
Dan, first, thank you for your service to our country. Once I get the book done here I’m looking forward to traveling again and doing some food tourism. Guinea pig with cumin and garlic in South America has been on my wish list. 🙂
I think perhaps that when Dan is referring to fermented duck eggs he’s telling you that he has visited the Philippines, where the local name for that food item is “balut.”
I also just arrived here because I was aware that the birds of this taxonomic family (“Phasianidae”) is chock-a-block with ground-dwelling birds eaten either as domesticated livestock or as game birds. That made me wonder if peacock recipes existed. Coming here was the perfect destination for my curiosity!
RE: “I also just arrived here because I was aware that the birds of this taxonomic family (“Phasianidae”) is chock-a-block with ground-dwelling birds eaten either as domesticated livestock or as game birds.”
Apologies for the grammatical errors…
“I also just arrived here because I was aware that this bird taxonomic family (“Phasianidae”) is chock-a-block with ground-dwelling birds eaten either as domesticated livestock or as game birds.”
One time I tried to crack open a balut onto a pizza at a restaurant I worked at. Not the duck egg I was expecting. The other cooks made fun of me for months. 🙂
Guinea Pig roasted is delicious. Dark meat, quite gamey and crispy skin. I had it in Peru. I am getting a laugh out of this thread. When we lived in the country we had vegetarian friends who kept chickens and wanted the roosters dispatched so they gave them to me. The first batch they brought the night before and my plan was to have my husband kill them with a friend who had done it before. The pump went out and my husband was busy, so I took the chickens to my friend’s house and killed them with her. When they were delivered I didn’t think I had it in me, but with the racket they made, by morning I had no problem at all killing them. Since then I got pretty good at it and helped a different friend when I found out she was killing quite a few ducks and chickens and threw out all the entrails. Naturally the next time I helped and made paté. As a kid neighbors up the road had peacocks and hens. They are some of the most obnoxious birds alive, I would have no trouble killing them.