Pheasant under glass facts for kids

"Pheasant under glass" (also known as faison sous cloche in French) is a special dish made from a type of bird called a pheasant. It usually features the pheasant's breast cooked with shallots (which are like small onions) in a rich sauce made from wine. Even though recipes can be different, the main idea is always a fancy pheasant dish. This meal used to be very popular, but it's not as common today. However, many people in Western countries still see it as a symbol of fancy cooking. The dish gets its name because it's traditionally served on a plate covered with a clear glass dome. This dome helps keep the food warm and looks impressive!

Male common pheasant

Pheasants are birds that can weigh from about 0.5 to 3 kilograms (1.1 to 6.6 pounds). Male pheasants are usually heavier, weighing around 1.2 kg (2.6 lb), while females weigh about 0.9 kg (2 lb). For the "pheasant under glass" dish, only the breast part of the bird is used.

A Special Dish

A Symbol of Luxury

"Pheasant under glass" is known as a very fancy type of French cooking. It's seen as a luxury meal, even though people eat less pheasant now than they did at the start of the 1900s. In books and stories, when a character eats "pheasant under glass," it often shows that they are very rich or like to spend a lot of money. One writer even called it "the hoitiest of toity cuisine," meaning it's super fancy!

A Famous Recipe

A recipe for "Faison Sous Cloche" (which means "Breast of Pheasant Under Glass") can be found in a famous cookbook from 1965. This book, called Treasury of Great Recipes, was written by Mary and Vincent Price. According to their book, this special recipe was created in the 1940s by Roy Alciatore. He was a chef at the well-known Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans. The reason the pheasant is served under a glass dome, they said, is to keep it "hot and appetizingly visible."