From Fantastic Mr. Fox · 2009 · Reconstructed
Roast Squab
Serve when
The moment Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox get caught in Berk's trap mid-heist — the last squab job before he promises to go straight
In the movie
Theatrical
- 00:02:36 Mr. Fox and his soon-to-be wife are caught in a trap while raiding Berk's squab farm — young Mrs. Fox has to explain to him what a squab even is
- The superstore finale needles its own fakery: 'these giblets come from artificial squab' — the film's punchline to the honest version stolen at the start
The film opens on Mr. Fox's last squab job — the one where he and his wife get caught in Berk's trap and she makes him swear off the farms for good, a promise he keeps for exactly as long as the plot needs him to. It's a small, honest theft compared to what comes later: one bird, taken clean. By the time the film reaches its superstore ending, "squab" is just a label on a bag of processed giblets — the joke being how far the food has drifted from the thing Mr. Fox actually used to steal.
Ingredients
- For the pan sauce:
Method
- Bring the squab to room temperature, then pat dry. Season generously inside and out with salt and pepper and tuck two thyme sprigs into each cavity.
- Rub the skin with softened butter. Heat the oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat and sear the squab breast-side down until deeply browned, about 3 minutes.
- Flip and transfer the skillet to a 425°F oven. Roast 8–10 minutes for medium-rare — the breast should read 130–135°F at its thickest — squab is tiny and dries out fast if you treat it like a chicken.
- Rest the birds 5 minutes. Deglaze the skillet with sherry, scraping up the fond, then add stock and reduce by half. Off heat, swirl in the cold butter.
- Halve or leave whole, spoon the pan sauce over, and serve while it's still warm enough to steam.
Substitutions
- Squab: if you can't source it, a small poussin or Cornish game hen gets you the closest texture — reduce the roasting time further since those run even smaller.
Beyond the recipe
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