trail
process / process-becasse-trail-eating
ヤマシギの内臓（トレイル）のトースト / woodcock trail on toast
Trail is a prized technique recorded in French and English-language cookbooks in which a woodcock (bécasse) is cooked whole without removing its intestines and the trail (intestines) is spread on bread or toast for serving.
On this page (7 sections)
Reading the bitterness
In 1825, the French writer Brillat-Savarin, in 『味覚の生理学』 (in translation: "The Physiology of Taste"), describes, as part of a recipe for pheasant 『サント・アリアンス風』 (in translation: "Sainte-Alliance style"), a preparation in which woodcock livers and intestines (entrailles) are mashed with truffles, anchovies, chopped fat, and good butter, then placed on bread cut 2 pouces (about 5 cm) longer than the pheasant on each side. The context differs from the modern way of serving a whole roasted woodcock with its intestines on toast: the intestines here are an ingredient accompanying a pheasant dish.
The 1889 American cookbook and catering manual 『The Steward's Handbook and Guide to Party Catering』 states that woodcock is treated more carefully than any other game, is never drawn, and is eaten without leaving a morsel, down to the last of its trail (intestines). It says that when the bird is roasted with 1 slice of toast underneath, the trail falls onto it; a more elaborate serving method mixes the trail with bacon fat, chopped shallots, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper before spreading it on toast. The manual’s praise is directed at the woodcock as a whole, not specifically at the trail, a distinction that matters when reading it.
Sources for this overview
Physiologie du goût, ou Méditations de gastronomie transcendante — Variétés
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the original description of the preparation using woodcock livers and intestines as part of the recipe for pheasant Sainte-Alliance style.
The Steward's Handbook and Guide to Party Catering — Woodcock
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the original description of eating the bird without drawing it, down to the trail, and serving it on toast, and that the praise concerns the whole bird.
Other names: entrailles de bécasse (fr)
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
How processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: A recipe in the Variétés chapter of Brillat-Savarin’s 『味覚の生理学』 (in translation: "The Physiology of Taste"), France, 1825.
Note: An example of woodcock intestines used as an ingredient in a pheasant recipe. Note that its context differs from the modern standard serving method of roasting a whole woodcock and placing its intestines on toast.
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process-becasse-trail-eating —is_prepared_by→ "Mash woodcock livers and intestines (entrailles) with truffles, anchovies, chopped fat, and butter; spread them on bread cut to the bird’s length and roast it above them (as part of the recipe for 『雉のサント・アリアンス風』 (in translation: "pheasant Sainte-Alliance style"))."Culture (1)
Scope: A description in an American cookbook and catering manual from the late 19th century.
Note: The original expression 『美食家の栄光、料理人の誇り』 (in translation: "the glory of the gourmet and the pride of the cook") praises the whole woodcock, not the trail (intestines) specifically. It is recorded as the cookbook’s own judgment.
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process-becasse-trail-eating —has_cultural_role_of→ "Woodcock is described as being treated more carefully than other game because it is cooked whole without removal of the intestines, while the trail (intestines) is prized as 『この上ない部位』 (in translation: "an unsurpassed part")."