For dining to enthuse the spirit there are steps which the chef can take toward artistry, feeding not only the stomach of a diner but also her mind. This is a method developed in the kitchens of the royal family of Tontugo for the cooking of a bird which sings, in lieu of or in concert with other performers at a feast. As such feasts require grand tableaux, preparing two or three such birds to affect a chorus is best.

First, collect a fine adult peafowl, preferred male, and thrust into his brain his own quill, which shall quickly kill him. Afterward, pierce his body and hang him to bleed as a hog. Take care not to leave too large a hole. Do not pluck him: gently slice the skin from neck to tail and set it aside as a host would a traveler’s shroud—this traveler is bound for the stomach. Next, speckle the breast with clove and stuff him with spices such as anise and galangal, and sweet herbs, namely basil and lovage. Roast the bird upon a spit, taking care to keep a damp linen cloth around his neck so that it does not dry.

After three or four hours, take the roasted bird and enrobe him again with his skin and plumage. Though his insides are now tender to the tooth, he shall appear hale and live. With the aid of wires bent and concealed against the legs, stand him nobly upon a board. Bind the neck at the bottom and fill with quicksilver and sulphur, ground small. Bind the top, below the head, loosely. When your guests are arrayed at the table and you wish the bird to sing, merely heat him above some flame. The air within his body will rush to escape and make a fetching warble. If you find weedy his cries, bind the neck thus tighter and he shall sing stridently. The flesh of the Singing Bird is enhanced through melody: take care to taste every note. Accompany with strings and brass for greatest effect.

These methods can be mostly replicated with other creatures; take care only that you have enough wire to make them stand again.

Cucina Gastronomica, c. 1540, compiler unattributed