Alan Davidson

Woodcock

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

woodcock Scolopax rusticola, a bird which is highly prized over its wide range, from N. Spain and Britain to Siberia and Japan. Its presence in the Mediterranean is more or less limited to Corsica. Its smaller namesake, the American woodcock, Philohela minor, is highly rated in N. America.

The woodcock eats a varied diet of wholesome foods and presents a plump aspect. One provides a sufficient helping for one person. It is usually roasted, without first being cleaned, since the entrail is accounted essential to full enjoyment of the bird’s fine flavour.