Pularda Rellena de Navidad

Pularda rellena is Castilian celebration cooking, especially at Christmas in Castilla y León. A fine, fattened young hen is opened and boned whole, packed with a close-grained stuffing of pork, jamón serrano and black winter truffle, then roasted until the skin turns burnished gold. This is the savory Castilian line, not the prune-and-pine-nut filling found in much Catalan Christmas poultry.

The work that decides the dish is the shaping. Keep the skin in one sheet apart from the opening along the back, carry the stuffing into the leg cavities, then sew and tie the bird into a firm, even parcel. Empty pockets make the filling fall away when you carve, while too much stuffing splits the skin. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Use the measured amount, close it patiently and let the strings do their work.

If you can't find a poulard, use a capon of the same weight. Its meat is a little firmer and fuller in flavor, but it holds the stuffing properly and belongs at the same sort of feast. Fresh black truffle is best; a good whole truffle preserved in its own juice gives a quieter aroma but remains a sound household substitute. Truffle-flavored oil is perfume, not truffle. Leave it in the cupboard.

Give the cooked bird a full thirty-five minutes before carving. That rest sets the stuffing and keeps the juices in the slice instead of across the board. My Margin has the warning written plainly: Christmas lunch will wait for the pularda, but the pularda won't mend itself after an impatient knife. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.