Pigeon recipes

Browse our wonderful collection of pigeon recipes, including Alan Murchison's recipe for wood pigeon with cobnuts, Matthew Tomkinson's wood pigeon salad recipe and Marcello Tully's wonderful pigeon breast recipe with beetroot and creme fraiche, plus text from Matthew Fort on why the bird is so beloved.

Fort on Pigeon...

There is a world of difference between the suave velvet-and-suede texture of a farmed squab (young pigeon) pigeon, which is usually the one you’ll find on restaurant menus, and the taut muscularity of the wild bird. The differences in flavour are equally marked. Squabs have a mild, civilised, almost cultured gentleness. Wild is much more minerally and hard edged. It’s not hard to see why. Your wild bird leads a very active life, feeding as he may. Connoisseurs prefer the autumn birds, which have grown fat on beach mast, autumn veg and berries. Even so, they take a bit of cooking as that chest meat is pure, working muscle. That’s why most people braise them.

Squabs, on the other hand, are fed to put on weight as rapidly as possible, and are killed at around a month. Not much of a life, really. In the wild, pigeons will generally live for 3-4 years, but can live for up to 15. And then there’s the difference in weight: industrially raised squabs weigh 1.3 pounds (0.59 kg) when of age, as opposed to traditionally raised pigeons, which weigh 0.5 pounds (0.23 kg). There’s nothing new about pigeon farming. The ancient Egyptians were at it, and raising ducks and geese, too, for foie gras, for that matter.

Article written by Matthew Fort

What Pigeon Goes With

Pigeon has been revived by chefs over the last few years and its gamey taste makes it ideal for serving with earthier ingredients. Pair with the likes of mushrooms, butter beans, cobnuts to make use of this combination.

In the same way that orange is a natural foil for duck, cherries can perform a similar role with pigeon; its sweetness offering a great counterpoint to the bird’s rich flavour. Most sweet flavours will work well with pigeon; Mark Dodson serves his breast of pigeon with a blueberry jus.

If you really want to impress, use this Chris Horridge wild pigeon recipe as inspiration, in which pigeon is cured in birch sap wine.

Pigeon recipes

Spatchcock pigeon on bruschetta with cavolo nero, pancetta and porcini mushrooms Theo Randall

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	1 hour 50 minutes
Serves:	4

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Wood pigeon salad Dominic Chapman

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	2 hours
Serves:	4

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Wood pigeon with blueberry jus, beetroot purée and potato crisps Mark Dodson

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	40 minutes plus slow cooking of beetroot
Serves:	4

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Roast pigeon with braised butter beans Bryan Webb

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	4 hours 15 minutes plus overnight soaking
Serves:	4

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Warm salad of Alresford wood pigeon with caramelised walnuts and beetroot compote Matthew Tomkinson

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	4 hours 50 minutes plus chilling
Serves:	4

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Pigeon breast with beetroot crème fraîche Marcello Tully

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	4 hours
Serves:	4

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Roast squab pigeon with celeriac salad Adam Gray

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	50 minutes
Serves:	4

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Wild pigeon cured in birch sap wine Chris Horridge

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	1 hour 30 minutes plus 48 hours curing
Serves:	6

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Pigeon, coffee-cured foie gras, Isle of Wight cherries and spiced bread Luke Holder

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	2 hours plus curating and marinating
Serves:	4

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Oven roasted squab pigeon with braised crispy leg and foie gras hollandaise Robert Thompson

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Challenging
Cooking Time:	1 hour 40 minutes plus cooking of the legs in waterbath or in a pan
Serves:	4

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Pigeon bistayeea Greg Malouf

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	2 hours
Serves:	6

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Wood pigeon with cobnuts Alan Murchison

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	1 hour 30 minutes
Serves:	4

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