Gamey squab is a great splurge

For those who like rich, gamey-tasting meat, squab is the perfect bird for a splurge or celebration. The birds, technically young pigeons, are bred for their meat. Slightly bigger than Cornish hens, these pigeons aren't the same breed overrunning city parks.

Harvest sous chef Matthew McClure likes to cook squab breast only until it is rare and accompany the meat with glazed butternut squash and a thin slice of crisp pancetta, as he did recently. The dish offers complex rich, sweet, and smoky-salty flavors.

''Most of the meat is on the breast," says McClure, who advises against overcooking squab because it makes the meat tough, and the gamey flavor, with its hints of liver, becomes more pronounced. The chef quickly sears the squab in a hot pan, removes the breasts, and then transfers the breasts to the oven for a few minutes to finish cooking and crisp the skin. Home cooks will find it easier to roast the whole bird.

The small size, presented individually, has a celebratory feel. Thomas Biggs, one of the founders of the Vermont Quality Meats cooperative that provides Harvest with most of its game, says, ''Squab is a gourmet bird. It's a delicacy that's been prized for thousands of years." That may be true, but it's not well known. ''It's a relative stranger to our modern palates," adds the meat purveyor.

Squab is available at The Butcher Shop, 552 Tremont St., Boston, 617-423-4800; and John Dewar & Co., 753 Beacon St., Newton, 617-964-3577 and 277 Linden St., Wellesley 781-235-8322. Call ahead to make sure it's available. Birds weighing 1 pound will cost about $14.