Quail as food

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Quail with sauce
Fried quail with inserted quail eggs in the Philippines FvfFoodsPhil0094 03.JPG
Fried quail with inserted quail eggs in the Philippines

Both Old World and New World quail include edible species. The common quail used to be much favoured in French cooking, but quail for the table are now more likely to be domesticated Japanese quail. The common quail is also part of Polish, Maltese, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, and Indian cuisine. Quail are commonly eaten complete with the bones, since these are easily chewed and the small size of the bird makes it inconvenient to remove them. [1] Quails were domesticated in China. China is also the largest producer of quail meat in the world. [2]

Contents

Quail that have fed on hemlock (e.g., during migration) may induce acute kidney injury due to accumulation of toxic substances from the hemlock in the meat; this problem is referred to as "coturnism". [3]

A persistent myth holds that it is impossible to eat quail every day for a month. This has been the subject of a number of proposition bets; however, it has been achieved on several occasions. [4]

This "every-day-for-a-month" estimation may have been derived from a Biblical passage about quail. The children of Israel, having become tired of eating manna, demanded flesh to eat. God then gave them quail, but with this warning: "Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" (Numbers 11:19-20, KJV). Later in the passage, we are told, "And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:33, KJV).

A 19th-century recipe from California for Codornices a la española (Spanish-style quail) was prepared by stuffing quails with a mixture of mushroom, green onion, parsley, butter, lemon juice and thyme. The birds were brushed with lard, bread crumbs and beaten eggs and finished in the oven. A savory pie could be made with quail, salt pork, eggs and fresh herbs. [5]

Kosher status

Only certain species of quail are considered kosher. The Orthodox Union certifies Coturnix coturnix as kosher based upon the masorah of Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft. [6] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the term that in Sephardi or Modern Hebrew is pronounced kashér, meaning "fit". Food that may not be consumed, however, is deemed treif, also spelled treyf. In case of objects the opposite of kosher is pasúl

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poultry</span> Domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, meat, or feathers

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes. The term also includes waterfowls of the family Anatidae but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quail</span> Index of animals with the same common name

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common quail</span> Species of bird

The common quail, or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unclean animal</span> Animal whose consumption or handling is taboo

In some religions, an unclean animal is an animal whose consumption or handling is taboo. According to these religions, persons who handle such animals may need to ritually purify themselves to get rid of their uncleanliness.

<i>Coturnix</i> Genus of birds

Coturnix is a genus of five extant species and five to eight known extinct species of Old World quail.

Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut. The laws of kashrut apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish meeting specific criteria; the flesh of any animals that do not meet these criteria is forbidden by the dietary laws. Furthermore, kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according to a process known as shechita and their blood may never be consumed and must be removed from the meat by a process of salting and soaking in water for the meat to be permissible for use. All plant-based products, including fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs and spices, are intrinsically kosher, although certain produce grown in the Land of Israel is subjected to other requirements, such as tithing, before it may be consumed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pareve</span> Kashrut classification of foods free from dairy and meat

In kashrut, the dietary laws of Judaism, pareve or parve is a classification of food that contain neither dairy nor meat ingredients. Food in this category includes all items that grow from the ground, fish, eggs, and non-biological edible items.

Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the meat of a particular animal, including mammals, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, crustaceans and insects, which may relate to a disgust response being more often associated with meats than plant-based foods. Some prohibitions are specific to a particular part or excretion of an animal, while others forgo the consumption of plants or fungi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King quail</span> Species of bird

The king quail, also known as the blue-breasted quail, Asian blue quail, Chinese painted quail, or Chung-Chi, is a species of Old World quail in the family Phasianidae. This species is the smallest "true quail", ranging in the wild from southern China, South and Southeast Asia to Oceania, south to southeastern Australia, with 9 different subspecies. A failed attempt was made to introduce this species to New Zealand by the Otago Acclimatisation Society in the late 1890s. It is quite common in aviculture worldwide, where it is sometimes misleadingly known as the "button quail", which is the name of an only very distantly related family of birds, the buttonquails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese quail</span> Species of bird

The Japanese quail, also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia. First considered a subspecies of the common quail, it is now considered as a separate species. The Japanese quail has played an active role in the lives of humanity since the 12th century, and continues to play major roles in industry and scientific research. Where it is found, the species is abundant across most of its range. Currently, there are a few true breeding mutations of the Japanese quail. The varieties currently found in the United States include Pharaoh, Italian, Manchurian, Tibetan, Rosetta, along with the following mutations: sex-linked brown, fee, roux, silver, andalusian, blue/blau, white winged pied, progressive pied, albino, calico, sparkly, as well as non-color mutations such as celadon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosher animals</span> Animals that comply with Jewish regulations for consumption

Kosher animals are animals that comply with the regulations of kashrut and are considered kosher foods. These dietary laws ultimately derive from various passages in the Torah with various modifications, additions and clarifications added to these rules by halakha. Various other animal-related rules are contained in the 613 commandments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue quail</span> Species of bird

The blue quail or African blue quail is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae found in sub-Saharan Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coturnism</span> Muscle tenderness after eating quail

Coturnism is an illness featuring muscle tenderness and rhabdomyolysis after consuming quail that have fed on poisonous plants.

The mixture of meat and dairy is forbidden according to Jewish law. This dietary law, basic to kashrut, is based on two verses in the Book of Exodus, which forbid "boiling a (goat) kid in its mother's milk" and a third repetition of this prohibition in Deuteronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey meat</span> Meat from a turkey

Turkey meat, commonly referred to as just turkey, is the meat from turkeys, typically domesticated turkeys, but also wild turkeys. It is a popular poultry dish, especially in North America and the United Kingdom, where it is traditionally consumed as part of culturally significant events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas respectively, as well as in standard cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old World quail</span> Several species of pheasant like birds

Old World quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the tribe Coturnicini of the pheasant family Phasianidae. Although all species commonly referred to as "Old World quail" are in the same tribe, they are paraphyletic with respect to the other members of the tribe, such as Alectoris, Tetraogallus, Ammoperdix, Margaroperdix, and Pternistis.

Chaim Loike is an American Rabbi who works for the Orthodox Union Kosher. He is an expert on kosher species of birds. He is the director of the Biblical Ornithological Society.

A domesticated quail is a domestic form of the quail, a collective name which refers to a group of several small species of fowl. Thousands of years of breeding and domestication have guided the bird's evolution. Humans domesticated quails for meat and egg production; additionally, quails can be kept as pets. Domesticated quails are commonly kept in long wire cages and are fed game bird feed. The most common domesticated type is the Coturnix quail. Quails live on the ground, and rarely fly unless forced to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft</span> Polish rabbi (1915–2005)

Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft was a rabbi who was Rosh Hashochtim of Poland before the Holocaust. After the Holocaust he was Chief Rabbi of Hanover and Lower Saxony. After emigrating to the United States he was a Rav Hamachshir and was described as the "foremost authority on shechita".

References

  1. Shanaway, M. M. (1994). Quail Production Systems: A Review. Food & Agriculture Org. ISBN   978-92-5-103384-5.
  2. Barrow, Paul; Nair, Venugopal; Baigent, Susan; Atterbury, Robert; Clark, Michael (2021-10-08). Poultry Health: A Guide for Professionals. CABI. ISBN   978-1-78924-504-2.
  3. Tsironi M, Andriopoulos P, Xamodraka E, et al. (2004). "The patient with rhabdomyolysis: have you considered quail poisoning?". CMAJ. 171 (4): 325–6. doi:10.1503/cmaj.1031256. PMC   509041 . PMID   15313988.
  4. "Quail". 27 November 2010.
  5. El cocinero español by Encarnación Pinedo, 1898
  6. Staff, OU Kosher (2008-08-22). "The Birds of the Bible, or, Solving the Mystery of Which of the Species are Kosher and Which are Not". OU Kosher Certification. Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  7. "The Intricacies of Quail - Rabbi Chaim Loike". thejewishheritage.weebly.com. Retrieved 2024-07-01.[ permanent dead link ]