On Food and Cooking

that puts on as much as a third of its carcass
weight in fat for fuel and under-skin
insulation. Ducks are eaten at two ages: in the
egg as 15–20-day embryos (the Philippine
boiled delicacy balut), and at 6 to 16 weeks.
The Muscovy duck is an entirely different
bird: Cairina moschata, the greater wood
duck, which is native to the west coast of
Central and northern South America, differs
in three important ways from mallard
varieties: it lays down about a third less body
fat, grows significantly larger, and has a more
pronounced flavor.
Squab, dove, and pigeon are various names
for the European rock dove, Columba livia, a
species that includes the common city pigeon;
“squab” means a bird young enough that it has
never flown. Its flying muscles weigh five
times as much as its leg muscles. Today,
domestic squab are raised for four weeks and
slaughtered at about 1 lb/450 g, just before
they’re mature enough to fly.