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The New Suburbia: How Diversity

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The New Suburbia
The New Suburbia
How Diversity Remade Suburban Life in Los Angeles
after 1945
BECKY M. NICOLAIDES
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the
University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing
worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and
certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2024
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in
writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under
terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning
reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same
condition on any acquirer.
CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress
ISBN 978–0–19–757830–8
eISBN 978–0–19–757832–2
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197578308.001.0001

The publication was co-financed by the Erasmus + programme under the project “Urbanism
and Suburbanization in the EU Countries and Abroad: Reflection in the Humanities, Social
Sciences, and the Arts” (2021-1-CZ01-KA220-HED-000023281). The European
Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the author, and the
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information
contained therein.
Portions of this work were adapted from Becky M. Nicolaides, “The Social Fallout of Racial
Politics: Civic Engagement in Suburban Pasadena, 1950-2000,” in Making Suburbia: New
Histories of Everyday America, edited by John Archer, Paul J. P. Sandul and Katherine
Solomonson (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015), 3–20, copyright 2015 by
the Regents of the University of Minnesota.
For David, Desmond, and Marina,
and
my brothers, Louie and Alex
Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I SUBURBAN METROPOLIS


1 The Historic Suburban Landscapes of Los Angeles
2 Change and Stability: Evolving Demography and Housing in the S
uburbs
3 Suburban Political and Civic Cultures, Across the Spectrum

PART II ON THE GROUND IN SUBURBIA


4 White Flight Within: Pasadena
5 Learning Suburban Affluence: San Marino
6 The Death and Life of a Working-Class Suburb: South Gate
7 From Neighborhood Trust to Neighborhood Watch: Lakewood
Conclusion

Notes
Index
Acknowledgments

This book has been years in the making, and I am so grateful to the
many people and institutions that helped me along the way. I
became an independent scholar in 2006, when I transitioned from
tenured professor to freelance historian. By 2009, I began
germinating the idea for this book. The individuals and funders who
supported my work as an independent scholar, recognizing the
particular challenges of that status, hold a special place in my heart,
and I am particularly thankful for their generosity and sustenance.
Three funders provided crucial support with year-long fellowships
during which I wrote three of the case studies of this book: the John
Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of
Learned Societies. I am grateful to the Huntington Library for several
short-term fellowships, to the UCLA Center for the Study of Women
for a steady succession of Tillie Olsen Grants, and to Bill Deverell
and Wade Graham of the LA County Almanac project for allocating
funds to me to collect 2010 data on LA. Additional thanks to the
National Endowment for the Humanities for a grant to the USC
Libraries to help make my LA County data accessible to the public,
and I am grateful to Andy Rutkowski, Deborah Holmes-Wong, Bill
Dotson, and Tim Stanton for their work on this project.
The UCLA Center for the Study of Women and the Huntington-
USC Institute on California and the West granted me research
affiliations, which have been lifelines to me as a scholar. To Bill
Deverell, I owe a huge debt of gratitude. He has been a steadfast
friend who went above and beyond by ensuring I had uninterrupted
library access at USC. Thank you, Bill, for your unwavering support.
Numerous librarians, archivists, city employees, and individuals
helped me find sources, gave me access to off-limits rooms,
provided information, and otherwise facilitated my research, and I
am grateful to all of them, especially Dan McLaughlin, Mary Carter,
Young Phong, and Tiffany Dueñas of the Pasadena Public Library;
Anuja Navare of the Pasadena Museum of History; Bill Trimble of the
Pasadena City Planning Office; Lilia Novelo of the Pasadena City
Clerk’s Office; Anne Peterson and Keith Holeman of All Saints Church
Pasadena; Judith Carter of the San Marino Historical Society; Debbie
McEvilly, Raquel Larios, and Sonia Guerrero of the South Gate City
Clerk’s Office; Bill Grady, Public Information Officer of Lakewood;
Sarah Comfort of Iacaboni Library, Lakewood; and Laura Verlaque,
Julie Yamashita, Mary Lou Langedyke, and Mike Lawler of the
Lanterman Historical Museum, La Cañada.
Students played a pivotal role in this book. Many shared superb
insights in my courses on suburban history and a few wrote research
papers that enriched my own thinking. I thank students in my
classes at UCLA, Claremont Graduate School, and Pitzer College,
particularly Graham McNeill, Mercedes González-Ontañon, and Jada
Higgins. Over the years, a team of student research assistants
compiled the large US Census dataset on LA suburbia, which
provided crucial empirical context for this book: Angela Hawk, Ryan
Stoffers, Jennifer Vanore, Matthew Bunnett, Sera Gearhart, David
Yun, and Desmond Weisenberg. A special thanks to Avi Gandhi for
her immense help with the dataset during the late stages of this
project. Other students assisted with research and various tasks,
including Jean-Paul deGuzman, Allison Lauterbach, Jared Levine,
Samantha Oliveri, Crystal Yanez, and Veronica Hernandez. As some
have gone on to jobs with the federal government, nonprofits, and
universities, I feel fortunate to have worked with them over the
course of writing this book, and I am grateful for their invaluable
assistance.
I’ve had the opportunity to present or workshop parts of my
research on this book at various institutions, and I am indebted to
those who made that possible: Margaret Crawford at the University
of California, Berkeley; Michael Ebner and Ann Durkin Keating at the
Chicago History Museum’s Urban History Seminar; Jo Gill at the
University of Exeter; Dan Amsterdam and Doug Flamming at Georgia
Tech; Adam Arenson at Manhattan College; Ken Marcus, Donna
Schuele, and Amy Essington at the Historical Society of Southern
California; Jem Axelrod at the Occidental Institute for the Study of
Los Angeles; and Andrew Sandoval-Strausz at Penn State University.
A special thanks to the LA History & Metro Studies Group, where I
workshopped chapters. And to my fellow coordinators of that group
over the years—Kathy Feeley, Caitlin Parker, Andrea Thabet, David
Levitus, Gena Carpio, Alyssa Ribeiro, Monica Jovanovich, Ian
Baldwin, Lily Geismer, and Oscar Gutierrez—I am so grateful for your
friendship, feedback, and camaraderie.
A number of friends and scholars shared sources, ideas, maps,
photos, and/or read parts of the manuscript. I thank you for your
generosity and invaluable insights: Jake Anbinder, Steve Aron, Eric
Avila, Hal Barron, Brian Biery, Gena Carpio, Wendy Cheng, Peter
Chesney, Jenny Cool, Jean-Paul deGuzman, Peter Dreier, Phil
Ethington, Lily Geismer, Adam Goodman, Richard Harris, Andrew
Highsmith, Greg Hise, Matthew Kautz, Kathy Kobayashi, Nancy Kwak,
Matt Lassiter, Bill Leslie, David Levitus, Willow Lung-Amam, Jennifer
Mapes (cartographer extraordinaire), Nancy Dorf Monarch, Michelle
Nickerson, Mark Padoongpatt, James Rojas, Eva Saks, Kathy Seal,
Tom Sitton, Raphe Sonenshein, Michael Tierney, Don Waldie, Jon
Weiner, Michele Zack, and James Zarsadiaz. I am grateful to
members of the LA Social History Group for reading early work,
especially John Laslett, Steve Ross, Frank Stricker, Jennifer Luff,
Craig Loftin, and the late Jan Reiff. Members of our short-lived but
mighty writing group provided excellent feedback and warm
friendship, and I’m grateful to all of you: Elaine Lewinnek, Lisa Orr,
Hillary Jenks, and Denise Spooner.
The many individuals who shared their life stories with me
through oral histories played a crucial role in the making of this
book. Their personal reminiscences filled in the details of everyday
life and the emotional experiences of living in changing suburbia. I
am immensely grateful to each and every one of them.
My recent involvement with the Erasmus + grant team on
“Urbanism and Suburbanization in the EU Countries and Abroad:
Reflection in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts” has been
a truly enriching experience. It has enabled me to share my work
with an exceptional group of European scholars and has facilitated
the fruitful exchange of insights about the structures and
experiences of suburbia transnationally. Thanks to the Erasmus +
Programme for funding this initiative, and especially to Pavlína
Flajšarová, Jiri Flajsar, Florian Freitag, Vit Vozenilek, Jaroslav Burian,
Eric Langlois, Mauricette Fournier, and Franck Chignier Riboulon. And
Andy Wiese, thank you for repping the US with me and sharing this
adventure in a way that only two suburban history nerds can fully
appreciate.
Several friends and fellow scholars went above and beyond during
my years engaged in this project, and to them I owe a special debt
of gratitude. Denise Spooner, dear friend and companion on this
journey, thank you for your love and support. Susan Phillips, I thank
you for your extraordinary kindness, love, and social justice
leadership. Carol McKibben, your friendship and unflagging
encouragement helped me through. I especially thank Erin Alden,
Jonathan Pacheco Bell, Barbara Gunnare, Max Felker-Kantor, Jorge
Leal, Elline Lipkin, Caitlin Parker, Andrew Sandoval-Strausz, Jen
Vanore, and Jake Wegmann for your boundless encouragement and,
in many cases, direct help with this book. Tim Gilfoyle and Jim
Grossman, I am grateful for your enduring support and friendship.
John Archer and Margaret Crawford, you both became my guardian
angels when I bolted from academia and became an independent
scholar, writing letters of support for funding and otherwise offering
moral support over the years. I am truly grateful to you both. I am
indebted to Ken Jackson, Betsy Blackmar, and Eric Foner for their
intellectual inspiration that began in graduate school and has
continued unabated. And a special thanks to Dolores Hayden, whose
scholarship set the groundwork for this book.
I also am grateful to two scholars who have passed, Mike Davis
and my dear friend Clark Davis, who both deeply influenced my
thinking about Los Angeles. One of the last classes Clark taught was
an oral history seminar that resulted in the book Advocates for
Change, which gave voice to the individuals living through school
desegregation. I drew often from that book, which renewed my
appreciation for Clark and the legacy he left behind in his life and
work.
Andy Wiese, you have been a treasured friend and intellectual
partner since our days at Columbia. I am thankful for your support
and friendship, and your willingness to drop everything and talk
suburbs when I needed those conversations. Your insights always
elevated my understanding and have shaped this book in countless
ways. I’m so grateful to have such a kind and brilliant friend. Allison
Baker, friend and fellow historian, enormous thanks for sharing your
research and personal archive on Lakewood, which you lent me at
the start of the COVID shutdown. Your dissertation deeply shaped
my understanding of that community, and your tremendous
generosity enabled me to finish this book. While I thank my friends
and colleagues who have helped me along the way, all errors are my
responsibility alone.
To Susan Ferber of Oxford University Press, I owe enormous
thanks for everything, starting with the interest you expressed in this
project years ago, and continuing with your tireless work in guiding
this manuscript to completion. I’m truly grateful for your editorial
eye, personal encouragement, and sheer stamina. I am so lucky to
have worked with you. I am also grateful to the scholars who
reviewed the manuscript for Oxford—Josh Sides, Jerry González, and
an anonymous reader—for their excellent feedback and belief in this
project.
My family has been my bedrock, sustaining me in every way. For
your love and support, thank you Tina Nicolaides, Jean Ramos, Anya
Nicolaides, Vicki Lohser, Liz Tekus, George Papas, Sophia Khan, Brad
Thornton, Tom Huang, Yvonne and Scott Carlson, and Ron
Weisenberg. To my extraordinary brothers, Alex and Louie, your love
and rock-solid support have kept alive the spirit of family that we
grew up with, and I’m so glad that we still live within eight miles of
each other. Thank you for always being there for me. My kids
Desmond and Marina have lived with this book for the last dozen
years. As they got older, they got more directly involved—Marina
taking photos, Desmond compiling data tables and offering input on
passages I was struggling with. More than that, they patiently put
up with a mom consumed with this book. I’m so grateful to you
both, you are my heart and soul. David, you have the patience and
heart of a saint. Your love, humor, sustenance, feedback, ideas, and
fortitude truly carried me through. And when I needed it most, you
sang “Three Little Birds,” which somehow completely worked. I am
eternally grateful to you.
Municipalities and neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. Cartography by Philip J.
Ethington ©2007.
Ethington base map edited and augmented by Becky Nicolaides.
The New Suburbia
Introduction

Certain images of the suburbs seem forever etched in our minds.


The perfect green lawns. The cookouts. The lily-white suburbanites.
But the days of suburbia as a white monolith are over.
This book tells the story of how this came to be. It explores how
the suburbs transitioned from bastions of segregation into spaces of
multiracial living. The “new suburbia” refers to America’s suburbs
since the 1970s, which diversified at an accelerated pace.1 It is the
second generation of suburbs after 1945, which transformed from
starkly segregated whiteness into a more varied, uneven social
landscape. Diversity in the new suburbia refers not just to race, but
also to class, household composition, and the built landscape itself.
In the new suburbia, white advantage persisted, but it existed
alongside rising inequality, ethnic and racial diversity, and new family
configurations.
The racial transformation was a particularly dramatic turnaround.
From 1970 to 2020, nonwhites living in America’s suburbs rose from
just under 10% to 45% of all suburbanites. From another vantage
point, looking at the typical experience for Black Americans, Latinos,
and Asian Americans, a majority of each group now lives in the
suburbs. Something big has changed. Communities once imagined
as “far whiter than most of the nation” have come to look like a
cross-section of America itself.2
This matters because the suburb-city divide once defined deep
inequalities that rested on racial difference. The suburbs were
spaces of white advantage and privilege. For generations, they
locked out nonwhites from access to those same privileges,
bolstered by a thick web of biased policies. In the process, white
suburbanites amassed generational wealth through homeownership,
accrued political power from the local to federal level, and enjoyed
the advantages of living in safe neighborhoods with good schools,
green spaces, and community amenities. Through long-standing
exclusionary practices, suburbia helped produce racial inequality in
America.
The rise of diverse suburbia, then, signals an important
transformation while also raising crucial questions. Did the Latinos,
Asians, and Black Americans who moved to the suburbs enjoy the
same privileges as generations of whites? Did they embrace older,
white suburban political traditions, including the tendency to
exclude? Or did they adopt wholly new suburban ideals, values, and
ways of living? Are they remaking the suburbs? Or are the suburbs
remaking them?
The New Suburbia explores these questions by tracing the
process of suburban change over 70 years, from the 1940s to the
early 2000s, traversing the era of postwar white suburbia to the era
of diversity. It focuses on Los Angeles, at the cutting edge of this
transformation, where trends have happened earlier and more
widely. Governor Gavin Newsom likes to call California “America’s
coming attraction,” and LA’s suburban story is no exception.3 The
stories that are playing out in LA may very well be a bellwether for
the nation.

At the heart of this book are stories of the people and their suburban
communities undergoing these transitions. In the new suburbia,
Asian Americans, Black Americans, and Latinos moved into white
suburbs that once barred them. They bought homes, enrolled their
children in schools, and began navigating suburban life. They
included people like Tao Chia Chi, Sandra Martinez, and Derrick
Williams, whose life pathways all brought them to the suburbs of LA.
Tao Chia Chi was born in 1949, in Shanghai, China, the year Mao’s
communist regime seized control of the country. Her father, a
municipal employee in Shanghai, saw the writing on the wall—get
the family out quickly or face certain persecution. Two months after
Chia Chi’s birth, her father paid off the right people, disguised
himself as a farmer, and gathered his family—his wife, three young
daughters, and a sister—to make their way to a rural village where
they awaited a rowboat in the dark of night. When the fisherman
arrived and saw Chia Chi, he asked, “Is this a new infant? If she
cries, just choke her, otherwise we will all die.” Because many people
from the mainland were trying to get out by boat, the waters were
heavily patroled by communist soldiers. The girls managed to remain
quiet, and the family made its way safely to a nearby island. From
there, they hopped a cargo ship to Taiwan. The Taos started new
lives and raised their children in Taiwan. At age 22, Chia Chi arrived
as a student in the United States, where she eventually married a
doctor and raised her own family.
Sandra Martinez was born in 1957, into a poor family in San Pedro
Tlaquepaque, a town in Guadalajara, Mexico. Her father was a
lawyer but didn’t live with the family. Sandra had 11 siblings. Her
mother raised them as a single parent, without financial help,
making her living cleaning, cooking, and caring for other people’s
children. Without a home of their own, they lived with families
willing to put them up, but they were cast out when the burden of
housing 13 people became too much. When Sandra and each of her
siblings reached the age of 10, they left school to work, cleaning
homes or clerking in a shop. Their earnings went into the family pot,
which eventually helped them move into their own rental house.
When Sandra got older, she worked at a factory in Mexico making
Brittania Jeans, a popular brand in the United States. In her early
20s, Sandra came to Los Angeles to join her sisters and marry her
long-time boyfriend from Guadalajara.
Derrick Williams was born in 1965 and lived his early years in
southwest Philadelphia. In 1972, his family purchased a home in
West Oak Lane, an affluent community of Jewish and Italian
families. They were one of the first Black families to move in. Derrick
enjoyed a carefree childhood in a tight-knit neighborhood, with the
freedom to roam and explore his surroundings. Within a 10-year
span, however, rapid white flight flipped West Oak Lane from white
to Black, and Derrick began experiencing intensive racial conflict at
school, in the neighborhood, and in everyday life. As a teen, he was
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TO STEW A SHOULDER OF VENISON.

Bone the joint, by the directions given for a shoulder of veal or


mutton (see Chapter XI.); flatten it on a table, season it well with
cayenne, salt, and pounded mace, mixed with a very small
proportion of allspice; lay over it thin slices of the fat of a loin of well-
fed mutton, roll and bind it tightly, lay it into a vessel nearly of its size,
and pour to it as much good stock made with equal parts of beef and
mutton as will nearly cover it; stew it as slowly as possible from three
hours to three and a half or longer, should it be very large, and turn it
when it is half done. Dish and serve it with a good Espagnole, made
with part of the gravy in which it has been stewed; or thicken this
slightly with rice-flour, mixed with a glass or more of claret or of port
wine, and as much salt and cayenne as will season the gravy
properly. Some cooks soak the slices of mutton-fat in wine before
they are laid upon the joint; but no process of the sort will ever give
to any kind of meat the true flavour of the venison, which to most
eaters is far finer than that of the wine, and should always be
allowed to prevail over all the condiments with which it is dressed.
Those, however, who care for it less than for a dish of high artificial
savour can have eschalots, ham, and carrot, lightly browned in good
butter added to the stew when it first begins to boil.
3-1/2 to 4 hours.
TO HASH VENISON.[92]

92. Minced collops of venison may be prepared exactly like those of beef; and
venison-cutlets like those of mutton: the neck may be taken for both of these.

For a superior hash of venison, add to three quarters of a pint of


strong thickened brown gravy, Christopher North’s sauce, in the
proportion directed for it in the receipt of page 295.[93] Cut the
venison in small thin slices of equal size, arrange them in a clean
saucepan, pour the gravy on them, let them stand for ten minutes or
more, then place them near the fire, and bring the whole very slowly
to the point of boiling only: serve the hash immediately in a hot-water
dish.
93. Having been inadvertently omitted from its proper place, this receipt is
transferred to the end of the present Chapter.

For a plain dinner, when no gravy is at hand, break down the


bones of the venison small, after the flesh has been cleared from
them, and boil them with those of three or four undressed mutton-
cutlets, a slice or two of carrot, or a few savoury herbs, and about a
pint and a half of water or broth, until the liquid is reduced quite one
third. Strain it off, let it cool, skim off all the fat, heat the gravy,
thicken it when it boils with a dessertspoonful or rather more of
arrow-root, or with the brown roux of page 107, mix the same sauce
with it, and finish it exactly as the richer hash above. It may be
served on sippets of fried bread or not, at choice.
TO ROAST A HARE.

[In season from September to the 1st of March.]


After the hare has been
skinned, or cased, as it is called,
wash it very thoroughly in cold
water, and afterwards in warm. If
in any degree overkept, or
musty in the inside, which it will
sometimes be when emptied
before it is hung up and
neglected afterwards, use
Hare trussed.
vinegar, or the pyroligneous
acid, well diluted, to render it
sweet; then again throw it into abundance of water, that it may retain
no taste of the acid. Pierce with the point of a knife any parts in
which the blood appears to have settled, and soak them in tepid
water, that it may be well drawn out. Wipe the hare dry, fill it with the
forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., sew it up, truss and spit it firmly,
baste it for ten minutes with lukewarm water mixed with a very little
salt; throw this away, and put into the pan a quart or more of new
milk; keep it constantly laded over the hare until it is nearly dried up,
then add a large lump of butter, flour the hare, and continue the
basting steadily until it is well browned; for unless this be done, and
the roast be kept at a proper distance from the fire, the outside will
become so dry and hard as to be quite uneatable. Serve the hare
when done, with good brown gravy (of which a little should be
poured round it in the dish), and with fine red currant jelly. This is an
approved English method of dressing it, but we would recommend in
preference, that it should be basted plentifully with butter from the
beginning (the strict economist may substitute clarified beef-dripping,
or marrow, and finish with a small quantity of butter only); and that
the salt and water should be altogether omitted. First-rate cooks
merely wipe the hare inside and out, and rub it with its own blood
before it is laid to the fire; but there is generally a rankness about it,
especially after it has been many days killed, which, we should say,
renders the washing indispensable, unless a coarse game-flavour be
liked.
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
ROAST HARE.

(Superior Receipt.)
A hare may be rendered far more plump in appearance, and
infinitely easier to carve, by taking out the bones of the back and
thighs, or of the former only: in removing this a very sharp knife
should be used, and much care will be required to avoid cutting
through the skin just over the spine, as it adheres closely to the
bone. Nearly double the usual quantity of forcemeat must be
prepared: with this restore the legs to their original shape, and fill the
body, which should previously be lined with delicate slices of the
nicest bacon, of which the rind and edges have been trimmed away.
Sew up the hare, truss it as usual; lard it or not, as is most
convenient, keep it basted plentifully with butter while roasting, and
serve it with the customary sauce. We have found two
tablespoonsful of the finest currant jelly, melted in half a pint of rich
brown gravy, an acceptable accompaniment to hare, when the taste
has been in favour of a sweet sauce.
To remove the back-bone, clear from it first the flesh in the inside;
lay this back to the right and left from the centre of the bone to the
tips; then work the knife on the upper side quite to the spine, and
when the whole is detached except the skin which adheres to this,
separate the bone at the first joint from the neck-bone or ribs (we
know not how more correctly to describe it), and pass the knife with
caution under the skin down the middle of the back. The directions
for boning the thighs of a fowl will answer equally for those of a hare,
and we therefore refer the reader to them.
STEWED HARE.

Wash and soak the hare thoroughly, wipe it very dry, cut it down
into joints dividing the largest, flour and brown it slightly in butter with
some bits of lean ham, pour to them by degrees a pint and a half of
gravy, and stew the hare very gently from an hour and a half to two
hours: when it is about one third done add the very thin rind of half a
large lemon, and ten minutes before it is served stir to it a large
dessertspoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed with two tablespoonsful
of good mushroom catsup, a quarter of a teaspoonful or more of
mace, and something less of cayenne. This is an excellent plain
receipt for stewing a hare; but the dish may be enriched with
forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.) rolled into small balls, and simmered
for ten minutes in the stew, or fried and added to it after it is dished;
a higher seasoning of spice, a couple of glasses of port wine, with a
little additional thickening and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, will all
serve to give it a heightened relish.
Hare, 1; lean of ham or bacon, 4 to 6 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; gravy, 1-1/2
pint; lemon-rind: 1 hour and 20 to 50 minutes. Rice-flour, 1 large
dessertspoonful; mushroom catsup, 2 tablespoonsful; mace, 1/3 of
teaspoonful; little cayenne (salt, if needed): 10 minutes.
TO ROAST A RABBIT.

This, like a hare, is much improved by


having the back-bone taken out, and the
directions we have given will enable the
cook, with very little practice, to remove it
without difficulty. Line the inside, when this Rabbit for roasting.
is done, with thin slices of bacon, fill it with
forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII), sew it up,
truss, and roast it at a clear, brisk fire, and baste it constantly with
butter. Flour it well soon after it is laid down. Serve it with good
brown gravy, and with currant jelly, when this last is liked. For
change, the back of the rabbit may be larded, and the bone left in, or
not, at pleasure; or it can be plain roasted when more convenient.
3/4 to 1 hour; less, if small.
TO BOIL RABBITS.

Rabbits that are three parts grown, or, at


all events, which are still quite young,
should be chosen for this mode of cooking.
Wash them well, truss them firmly, with the
heads turned and skewered to the sides,
Rabbit for boiling. drop them into sufficient boiling water to
keep them quite covered until they are
cooked, and simmer them gently from thirty
to forty-five minutes: when very young they will require even less
time than this. Cover them with rich white sauce, mixed with the
livers parboiled, finely pounded, and well seasoned with cayenne
and lemon-juice; or with white onion sauce, or with parsley and
butter, made with milk or cream instead of water (the livers, minced,
are often added to the last of these), or with good mushroom sauce.
30 to 45 minutes.
FRIED RABBIT.

After the rabbit has been emptied, thoroughly washed and soaked,
should it require it to remove any mustiness of smell, blanch it, that is
to say, put it into boiling water and let it boil from five to seven
minutes; drain it, and when cold or nearly so, cut it into joints, dip
them into beaten egg, and then into fine bread-crumbs, seasoned
with salt and pepper, and when all are ready, fry them in butter over
a moderate fire, from twelve to fifteen minutes. Simmer two or three
strips of lemon-rind in a little gravy, until it is well flavoured with it;
boil the liver of the rabbit for five minutes, let it cool, and then mince
it; thicken the gravy with an ounce of butter and a small teaspoonful
of flour, add the liver, give the sauce a minute’s boil, stir in two
tablespoonsful of cream if at hand, and last of all, a small quantity of
lemon-juice. Dish the rabbit, pour the sauce under it, and serve it
quickly. If preferred, a gravy can be made in the pan as for veal
cutlets, and the rabbit may be simply fried.
TO ROAST A PHEASANT.

[In season from the beginning of October to the end of January.


The licensed term of pheasant shooting commences on the 1st of
October, and terminates on the 2nd of February, but as the birds will
remain perfectly good in cold weather for two or three weeks, if from
that time hung in a well-ventilated larder, they continue, correctly
speaking, in season so long as they can be preserved fit for table
after the regular market for them is closed: the same rule applies
equally to other varieties of game.]
Unless kept to the proper point, a
pheasant is one of the most tough, dry, and
flavourless birds that is sent to table; but
when it has hung as many days as it can
without becoming really tainted, and is well
roasted and served, it is most excellent
eating. Pluck off the feathers carefully, cut a
slit in the back of the neck to remove the
crop, then draw the bird in the usual way,
and either wipe the inside very clean with a
damp cloth, or pour water through it; wipe
the outside also, but with a dry cloth; cut off
the toes, turn the head of the bird under the
wing, with the bill laid straight along the Pheasant trussed
breast, skewer the legs, which must not be without the head.
crossed, flour the pheasant well, lay it to a
brisk fire, and baste it constantly and
plentifully with well flavoured butter. Send bread-sauce and good
brown gravy to table with it. The entire breast of the bird may be
larded by the directions of Chapter IX When a brace is served, one is
sometimes larded, and the other not; but a much handsomer
appearance is given to the dish by larding both. About three quarters
of an hour will roast them.
3/4 hour; a few minutes less, if liked very much underdone; five or
ten more for thorough roasting, with a good fire in both cases.
BOUDIN OF PHEASANT À LA RICHELIEU. (ENTRÉE.)

Take, quite clear from the bones, and from all skin and sinew, the
flesh of a half-roasted pheasant; mince, and then pound it to the
smoothest paste; add an equal bulk of the floury part of some fine
roasted potatoes, or of such as have been boiled by Captain Kater’s
receipt (see Chapter XVII.), and beat them together until they are
well blended; next throw into the mortar something less (in volume)
of fresh butter than there was of the pheasant-flesh, with a high
seasoning of mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, and a half-teaspoonful or
more of salt; pound the mixture afresh for ten minutes or a quarter of
an hour, keeping it turned from the sides of the mortar into the
middle; then add one by one, after merely taking out the germs with
the point of a fork, two whole eggs and a yolk or two without the
whites, if these last will not render the mixture too moist. Mould it into
the form of a roll, lay it into a stewpan rubbed with butter, pour boiling
water on it and poach it gently from ten to fifteen minutes. Lift it out
with care, drain it on a sieve, and when it is quite cold cover it
equally with beaten egg, and then with the finest bread-crumbs, and
broil it over a clear fire, or fry it in butter of a clear golden brown. A
good gravy should be made of the remains of the bird and sent to
table with it; the flavour may be heightened with ham and eschalots,
as directed in Chapter IV., page 96, and small mushrooms, sliced
sideways, and stewed quite tender in butter, may be mixed with the
boudin after it is taken from the mortar; or their flavour may be given
more delicately by adding to it only the butter in which they have
been simmered, well pressed, from them through a strainer. The
mixture, which should be set into a very cool place before it is
moulded, may be made into several small rolls, which will require
four or five minutes’ poaching only. The flesh of partridges will
answer quite as well as that of pheasants for this dish.
SALMI OF PHEASANT.
(See page 292.)

PHEASANT CUTLETS.
(See page 275.)
TO ROAST PARTRIDGES.

[In season from the first of September to the second of February,


and as long as they can be preserved fit for table from that time.]
Let the birds hang as long as they can
possibly be kept without becoming
offensive; pick them carefully, draw, and
singe them; wipe the insides thoroughly
with a clean cloth; truss them with the head
turned under the wing and the legs drawn
close together, not crossed. Flour them
when first laid to the fire, and baste them
plentifully with butter. Serve them with
bread sauce, and good brown gravy, a little
of this last should be poured over them. In
some counties they are dished upon fried
bread-crumbs, but these are better handed Partridge trussed.
round the table by themselves. Where
game is plentiful we recommend that the
remains of a cold roasted partridge should be well bruised and boiled
down with just so much water, or unflavoured broth, as will make
gravy for a brace of other birds: this, seasoned with salt, and
cayenne only, or flavoured with a few mushrooms, will be found a
very superior accompaniment for roast partridges, to the best meat-
gravy that can be made. A little eschalot, and a few herbs, can be
added to it at pleasure. It should be served also with boiled or with
broiled partridges in preference to any other.
30 to 40 minutes.
Obs.—Rather less time must be allowed when the birds are liked
underdressed. In preparing them for the spit, the crop must be
removed through a slit cut in the back of the neck, the claws clipped
close, and the legs held in boiling water for a minute, that they may
be skinned the more easily.
BOILED PARTRIDGES.

This is a delicate mode of dressing young and tender birds. Strip


off the feathers, clean, and wash them well; cut off the heads, truss
the legs like those of boiled fowls, and when ready, drop them into a
large pan of boiling water; throw a little salt on them, and in fifteen, or
at the utmost in eighteen minutes they will be ready to serve. Lift
them out, dish them quickly, and send them to table with white
mushroom sauce, with bread sauce and game gravy (see preceding
receipt), or with celery sauce. Our own mode of having them served
is usually with a slice of fresh butter, about a tablespoonful of lemon-
juice, and a good sprinkling of cayenne placed in a very hot dish,
under them.
15 to 18 minutes.
PARTRIDGES WITH MUSHROOMS.

For a brace of young well-kept birds, prepare from half to three


quarters of a pint of mushroom-buttons, or very small flaps, as for
pickling. Dissolve over a gentle fire an ounce and a half of butter,
throw in the mushrooms with a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne,
simmer them from eight to ten minutes, and turn them with the butter
on to a plate; when they are quite cold, put the whole into the bodies
of the partridges, sew them up, truss them securely, and roast them
on a vertical jack with the heads downwards; or should an ordinary
spit be used, tie them firmly to it, instead of passing it through them.
Roast them the usual time, and serve them with brown mushroom
sauce, or with gravy and bread sauce only. The birds may be trussed
like boiled fowls, floured, and lightly browned in butter, half covered
with rich brown gravy and stewed slowly for thirty minutes; then
turned, and simmered for another half hour with the addition of some
mushrooms to the gravy; or they may be covered with small
mushrooms stewed apart, when they are sent to table. They can
also be served with their sauce only, simply thickened with a small
quantity of fresh butter, smoothly mixed with less than a teaspoonful
of arrow-root and flavoured with cayenne and a little catsup, wine, or
store sauce.
Partridges, 2; mushrooms, 1/2 to 3/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; little
mace and cayenne: roasted 30 to 40 minutes, or stewed 1 hour.
Obs.—Nothing can be finer than the game flavour imbibed by the
mushrooms with which the birds are filled, in this receipt.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.

(Breakfast Dish.)
“Split a young and well-kept partridge, and wipe it with a soft clean
cloth inside and out, but do not wash it; broil it delicately over a very
clear fire, sprinkling it with a little salt and cayenne; rub a bit of fresh
butter over it the moment it is taken from the fire, and send it quickly
to table with a sauce made of a good slice of butter browned with
flour, a little water, cayenne, salt, and mushroom-catsup, poured
over it.” We give this receipt exactly as we received it from a house
where we know it to have been greatly approved by various guests
who have partaken of it there.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.

(French Receipt.)
After having prepared the bird with great nicety, divided, and
flattened it, season it with salt, and pepper, or cayenne, dip it into
clarified butter, and then into very fine bread-crumbs, and take care
that every part shall be equally covered: if wanted of particularly
good appearance dip it a second time into the butter and crumbs.
Place it over a very clear fire, and broil it gently from twenty to thirty
minutes. Send it to table with brown mushroom sauce, or some
Espagnole.
THE FRENCH, OR RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.

This is dressed precisely like our common partridge, and is


excellent eating if it be well kept; otherwise it is tough and devoid of
flavour. It does not, we believe, abound commonly in England, its
hostility to the gray partridge, which it drives always from its
neighbourhood, rendering it an undesirable occupant of a preserve.
It was at one time, however, plentiful in Suffolk,[94] and in one or two
of the adjoining counties, but great efforts, we have understood,
have been made to exterminate it.
94. Brought there by the late Marquis of Hertford, to his Sudbourne estate.
TO ROAST THE LANDRAIL OR CORN-CRAKE.

This delicate and excellent bird is in its full season at the end of
August and early in September, when it abounds often in the
poulterers’ shops. Its plumage resembles that of the partridge, but it
is of smaller size and of much more slender shape. Strip off the
feathers, draw and prepare the bird as usual for the spit, truss it like
a snipe, and roast it quickly at a brisk but not a fierce fire from fifteen
to eighteen minutes. Dish it on fried bread-crumbs, or omit these and
serve it with gravy round it, and more in a tureen, and with well made
bread sauce. Three or even four of the birds will be required for a
dish. One makes a nice dinner for an invalid.
TO ROAST BLACK COCK AND GRAY HEN.

In season during the same time as the common grouse, and found like them on
the moors, but less abundantly.
These birds, so delicious when well kept and well roasted, are
tough and comparatively flavourless when too soon dressed. They
should hang therefore till they give unequivocal indication of being
ready for the spit. Pick and draw them with exceeding care, as the
skin is easily broken; truss them like pheasants, lay them at a
moderate distance from a clear brisk fire, baste them plentifully and
constantly with butter, and serve them on a thick toast which has
been laid under them in the dripping-pan for the last ten minutes of
their roasting, and which will have imbibed a high degree of savour:
some cooks squeeze a little lemon-juice over it before it is put into
the pan. Send rich brown gravy and bread sauce to table with the
birds. From three quarters of an hour to a full hour will roast them.
Though kept to the point which we have recommended, they will not
offend even the most fastidious eater after they are dressed, as,
unless they have been too long allowed to hang, the action of the fire
will remove all perceptible traces of their previous state. In the earlier
part of the season, when warm and close packing have rendered
either black game or grouse, in their transit from the North,
apparently altogether unfit for table, the chloride of soda, well-
diluted, may be used with advantage to restore them to a fitting state
for it; though the copious washings which must then be resorted to,
may diminish something of their fine flavour.
3/4 to 1 hour.

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