Roast Peacock

In the old days a peacock was perhaps the most gorgeous and decorative dish on the Christmas board. This was prepared by first carefully removing the skin without losing the feathers. The fowl was then dressed, stuffed with all kinds of good things, roasted and finally sewed into its skin, still retaining the brilliant plumage. The beak was gilded, and this dish, fit for a king, was placed upon the table amid the blare of trumpets and the rapturous applause of the revelers.