In the bizarrely titled (but academic press published) book Unmentionable Cuisine, by Calvin Schwab, it mentions that there is a modern day prejudice in America against eating ‘little birds’ like Starlings and Sparrows.
But historically it happened, and still does in other countries. He also reports that little birds are usually eaten ‘bones and all’ including ‘viscera’.
Ok, is that possible? Good for you? They might be little but it’s still bones, which ain’t that soft right? And what about the stomach contents and such of the bird? People are crunching down some sparrow gall bladder and skull too? Wouldn’t it be horrible and damaging?
I’m interested I’m hearing about this as well. The closest I’ve ever come is reading about Anthony Bourdain describing eating ortolans. It sounded gross to me, but perhaps it’s my unsophisticated palate? I don’t care, I’d still rather eat spaghetti-os than bird guts.
When I was an exchange student in Brazil back in the 1970s, I was exposed to all manner of strange victuals. Among these delicacies were braised songbirds. They had been cooked in such a manner that the delicate bones were merely ‘crunchy’ (as in Crunchy Frog). I don’t quite recall the actual flavor of the dish as I was too busy trying to appear sophisticated to a young Brazilian lass at the time.
I hate that guy, so I hope he choked on ortolans. Or baby birdie bones.
I think I saw something about this once, although I remember something about the birds being pickled. I also remember a delicacy of developed bird embryos being eaten out of the shell.
How hungry do you have to be to eat a bird embryo?
The bones of ‘thumb-sized’ critters - songbirds, mice etc. - are so tiny and delicate, especially after cooking, that they present no problem whatsoever to the eater. Same applies to the viscera. Ask me how I know…
Eating small animals whole is the only way to get some nutrition out of them, and was the way to do it the world over until modern times.
I’ve heard that in many cultures, people eat small animals whole. In fact, I recall some woman who appeared on Celebrity Apprentice several years ago. Her husband was a French Chef and he opened a restaurant that served a famous French delicacy that was a small bird eaten whole. I think it was deep-fried first and that softened the bones to where the diner couldn’t recognize them as bones.
But you can Google for a French delicacy. For some strange reason, I’m pretty sure the name started with the letter “O”.
The various message boards were very busy discussing this. It was perhaps about ten years ago.
My French teacher told us (and so it might be utter bullocks) that it used to be a very literal song - something you’d sing to keep up the rhythm to get the birds plucked by dinnertime.
As I’ve never plucked a bird, I can’t tell how suitable the song would be for this purpose, but I can verify that small children love it, whether or not they can speak French.
By the way, I should say that I found the English translation from some French -> English translation site after I Googled “French English Translation”.
You can eat the ribs and wingtips and other small bones of a chicken if it’s cooked extra-crispy. If the bones are cooked hard they just crunch up into nothing.