Roasted Noddy Bird

Ingredients

The birds

• 4noddy birds
• plucked and cleaned
• see the notes
• salt and black pepper

To season

• 2 tablespoonsoil
• or coconut oil
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• a squeeze of lime
• coarse salt

The fire

• charcoal or coconut husks
• a wire rack
• or a spit

To serve

• rice or breadfruit
• coconut
• at a family meal

Directions

1. Check the law wherever you are. Nor should they attempt to at all. Wash hands thoroughly after handling them. Wash boards and knives as well. Keep them away from other food. Seabirds must be plucked and drawn. Salt water or vinegar reduces the strength. Removing the fat helps considerably too.
2. Pull the feathers in the growth direction. Take genuinely real time over it. Remove all of the innards entirely. Cut carefully around at the vent. Take care not to break the gut. Cut it right out and discard it.
3. Rinse the whole cavity thoroughly. Rinse until the water runs clear. Check inside for anything remaining. Pat them dry both inside and out. Soak the birds in salted water. Give them a good full hour or two. Trim off any heavy fat deposits. Rub the birds with salt and pepper.
4. Rub the crushed garlic over them. Rub oil over the skin as well. That oil helps the skin to crisp. Squeeze the lime over the birds. Let them sit for thirty minutes. Wait until they glow under grey ash.
5. Let the flame die before returning them. Lay all the birds on the rack. Turn them regularly throughout. A small bird takes about thirty minutes. Turn them every five minutes or so. Use a moderate rather than fierce heat.
6. Set the rack a little higher up. Judging them takes a proper check. Bone reads hotter than the meat. Check the thickest part of the thigh. Wild birds must be fully cooked.
7. Pierce the thigh with a knife tip. The juices should run entirely clear. Let the birds rest a few minutes. Small birds need only a short rest. Cover them loosely with a leaf. Serving them is always done hot. Serve them whole on a warm plate. Serve rice or breadfruit alongside. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• This records a genuine traditional practice that is a real part of Nauruan life, but it is a record rather than a recipe to follow: wild bird hunting is regulated in most countries, seabirds are protected in very many places, and taking them is illegal across most of the world. Check the law wherever you are — most readers cannot legally obtain these birds and should not attempt to.
• Seabird populations vary a great deal, some stable and some declining, and local status differs from global status. Population data changes over time and by location, so stating a specific conservation status here would be guessing, and the atlas declines to do that.
• Wild birds must be cooked right through, since they can carry bacteria and parasites: the thickest part of the thigh must reach seventy-five degrees, checked away from the bone, or the juices must run entirely clear. Handle them with care, washing hands, boards and knives thoroughly and keeping them away from other food.

Substitutions

• Vinegar or lime juice in the soaking water works as well as salt and both are genuinely traditional; soak the birds an hour or two, changing the water once, to draw out some of the strong flavour and remaining blood.
• Coconut husks are the traditional fuel and burn hot and long; wait for embers under grey ash rather than flames, and move the birds aside when dripping fat flares up rather than letting the flames blacken them.

Variations

• Cut out the preen oil gland above the base of the tail and discard it, since it carries a strong fishy flavour, and trim heavy fat deposits, which carry the strongest flavour of all — though leave some fat for moisture. Seabirds taste strongly of fish because they eat it, and some find it too strong entirely.
• Use a moderate rather than fierce heat with the rack set a little higher, since small birds burn on the outside before they cook through; turn them every five minutes and allow about thirty minutes.
• Noddies return to roost at dusk in predictable patterns and are caught with weighted lassos and hand nets — a genuinely skilled practice passed down directly. It survives on the narrow coastal terrace where people live, most of inland Nauru having been mined out for phosphate, a documented history that also displaced traditional food sources.

History

Noddies returning to roost at dusk are caught with lassos and hand nets, a hunting skill still practised on the coastal terrace.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roasted Noddy Bird?

Roasted Noddy Bird is a main from Nauru: black noddy seabirds caught at dusk and grilled, traditional delicacy. Noddies returning to roost at dusk are caught with lassos and hand nets, a hunting skill still practised on the coastal terrace.

How long does Roasted Noddy Bird take to make?

Roasted Noddy Bird takes 30 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Roasted Noddy Bird?

Yes, within limits. Vinegar or lime juice in the soaking water works as well as salt and both are genuinely traditional; soak the birds an hour or two, changing the water once, to draw out some of the strong flavour and remaining blood. Coconut husks are the traditional fuel and burn hot and long; wait for embers under grey ash rather than flames, and move the birds aside when dripping fat flares up rather than letting the flames blacken them.

What is the most important thing to get right in Roasted Noddy Bird?

Check the law wherever you are. Nor should they attempt to at all. Wash hands thoroughly after handling them. Wash boards and knives as well. Keep them away from other food. Seabirds must be plucked and drawn. Salt water or vinegar reduces the strength. Removing the fat helps considerably too.