Does anybody eat squab? What does it taste like? - Page 4

The recipe, squab pastilla, is demonstrated/discussed in three YouTube videos from Kendall College's culinary school, Cooking Combat: Squab Challenge with Kendall College .  It appears a prolonged format and I have yet to see the whole set of videos.  I was surprised though to find squab as an expensive fine dining meal course.

we usually use the barbeque to cook them....

marinate in soy sauce, garlic, pepper and salt overnight, the whole bird open up, on the barbie for about 10 min each side....

or if the weather is bad, stuffed with one whole onion, pepper and salt, wrap in bacon, put it in grill till the bacon is crispy....

That is a recipe I could do.  I just found another reference to squab pastilla on a blog, Pan-Roasted Breast of Squab with Swiss Chard, Sautéed Duck Foie Gras, and Oven-Dried Black Figs.  Yipes! -imagine having to have your squab iced and air freighted in because there are no local sources!  I liked the photos and descriptions in the blog.  The author is actually working from an American chef, Thomas Keller, discussing French art cooking, in his book, The French Laundry Cookbook. 

Perhaps I would enjoy the recipe, but in terms of preparation I like the idea of quick prep and I generally have on hand onion, pepper and salt and occasionally bacon.

Finally made connection with a farmer on the edge of town who raises rabbits, chickens and pigeons for competition.  He has little problem with Asian buyers of squab who purchase his 'culls'.  If I can set up decent housing for the pigeons in my city garage, he has connections to a local runt breeder.  Sounds like Runts are the way to go...  I also have a lot to learn.

Cornish hens can be about 2.5 pounds.   Runts can be 2.5 to 3.5 pounds.  I imagine their squabs are smaller than a regular Cornish hen, but from his description it didn't sound like that much smaller. 

One description made it sound like their were three different types of runts and they've been all bred to be smaller.  Was/Is there a larger variety of Runt?

The Answer To Your Questions  Runts Are Not Very Good Producers  They Have Been Bred For Show  Standard And Not Production  They Have Become So Large That Raiseing There Own Is Diffecult That Is  If They Are Runts .i Believe That  Man Takes Something And Breeds It For Extrem  Features  It Looses Other  Features. Saying That There Maybe Some Out There  That Do Produce Well  And Raise  . The Only  Two  Runt Breeds  I Know Of  Here In U.s.a .  Are Runts And Rumblers  Rumblers  Are A Cross  Of L.f.c.l. Tumbler  And Runts That Have  More Powerful Heads  And Tighter  Feathering .

breed the runts with your ordinary race birds... I found when I do this (I kept swiss mondains) the squab grows faster than just a straight utility breed....

not a good breed for squab

I've got Hubble and Giant Homers crossed and they make super squab. They come out bigger and heavier than just a sraight run of either.  Larry

Good information over all.  The idea of a cross sounds workable.  Should I be going to a farm swap meet (we have them here periodically) to find source birds/breeds to raise squab from or should I go to a breeder?  Are there 'traditional' pigeon breeds considered best for squab here in the US or is it mainly culls and crosses?  Sounds like in Europe they may have some breeds best for squab, but I was told we don't have them here in the US, if I understood the translation right.

Kings . not the show type
Giant homers
Texas Pioneer


Yes pure breed , that have been bred for squab production.