I am a huge fan of chicken. Roasted, curried, southern fried, I like them all ways.
Some time back I witnessed an elderly couple in front of me in a supermarket checkout queue, purchasing a silly packet of two chicken breasts. I noticed that the price was, something like, £2.50; whereas the whole chicken that I myself was buying was just £2.70. I felt like having words with them, but bit my tongue.
It was after this experience that I decided that, should I one day become Minister of Education, I would add CHICKEN STUDIES to the curriculum of every single school in the nation.
I would make sure that everyone knew how to joint a chicken, knew where all the meaty bits were to be found, and had total understanding of its bone structure. I would also make sure that all pupils (including veggies) knew exactly how long it takes to roast, to fry, and barbecue the wee beasty. They would learn to make stock with the bones, and be aware of what herbs and spices best increase its flavour.
Finally when their studies were over (5 years), in order to pass their Chicken Studies exams they would need to have total mastery over at least 100 chicken recipes.
Advanced students would also study EGGS (another 5 years).
Why would it take a 'normal' kid so long to grasp these subjects - You sound just like a teacher I know who believes that it would take at least 5 years to understand the study of the Peloponnesian War, (431 to 404 BC).
ReplyDeleteAs someone who used to teach 'veggies', may I say that within a short period of teaching those students I realised that they were soon a lot smarter than others were willing to give them credit for being?
For some reason people, who would otherwise be regarded as perfectly capable, become totally bemused by the anatomy of the humble Chicken. I truly believe that good knowledge of a Chicken's structure can only improve any meat-eater's life. (Sorry, I'm having to laugh whilst I write this)
DeleteJohnG would be an expert then, if he could ever bring himself to actually ,b>eat,/b> his chickens instead of collecting them and (eventually) burying them? uhhh??>?
ReplyDeleteWould the first course entail the catching and the wringing of neck? And chicken plucking, would it include that -- ?
ReplyDeleteOf course.... unless you have a nearby Waitrose!
Deletefor 30 years I never thought to turn the chicken over until someone showed me the OYSTERS!! :-P
ReplyDeleteSee! Had you done O Level Chicken, your 30 years would have been filled with those delicious morsels that so many ignore.
DeleteI never buy chicken at the sort of prices you quote above - any chicken sold for chicken-feed stands a good chance of being reared in a dark shed in China, then shipped over to France (or Morrisons) at a price so low that they can afford to actually roast it for you before selling it for £3.
ReplyDeleteThe prices I quoted were just to give an idea. I really can't remember how much they were at the time; the incident was many years ago, back in the UK. But I agree with you; we only ever buy properly reared birds.
DeleteOh, right. A well bred free-range chicken costs me about £8 - £10 now, and I reckon that's quite CHEEP!!!! (gedditt??)
DeleteBack when I still ate meat it was the free range French ones we preferred. Corn fed or poulet de Bresse. I never had problems eating the meat from the bone and I preferred the legs over the breasts. Yes, poultry was one thing we got from our trips to the Alsace...
ReplyDeleteYou need a bank loan for a Poulet de Bresse these days!
DeleteSince having to give up all red meat I have become on very close terms with chicken. I'll sign up for your course Cro. (ps...I knew where the oysters were hiding)
ReplyDeleteDelores; you'd be amazed by how many people don't!
DeleteAh, chickenology, a truly fine course of learning. Will this, however, lead to turkeyology, or perhaps pigeonology?
ReplyDeleteFowl University.
DeleteHubby has been on a steady diet of de-fatted chicken broth for the past couple of weeks. Not sure what we would have done without the mightly chicken! And yes...the oysters! the best!
ReplyDeleteChicken has gone up this last year, so roasting a whole bird is definitely the way to go if you want to save money ounce for ounce. But . . . don't kill me . . . I hate chopping bones and joints and all that. Julia would probably like to see me chopping away at a chicken, but I hate all the mess. I just want my pansty, frilly, pre-sliced and cleaned breasts that I can season or bread. Guess I should sign up for that class. Does the first class involve plucking feathers? Can I do the chicken dance? Do I get wine?
ReplyDeleteWine, sick bag, funky chicken dance; we supply everything.
DeleteMr. M.
ReplyDeleteYou should live where I live, in a medium sized rural farm area, and see how many people do not cook, let alone bone a chicken. I'm sure that it would not shock you, but it really opens my eyes.
Learned to bone a chicken when my grandmother felt I could weild a boning knife without slicing myself to bits, which was about 10 yrs.
Love roast chicken and use all my herbs I grow to make a wicked chicken, courtesy of my grandmother and a awesome cast iron dutch oven, which I have.
Have a wonderful weekend, Mr M and Lady M
You're right; pot roast chicken (in your Dutch oven) is wonderful.
DeleteThe best roast chicken I've ever had was at a French Bistro in Brighton.
ReplyDeleteI buy chicken in all forms. Sometimes you just do not have the time to simmer a bird all day.
And the best I've ever had was in a small nearby workman's restaurant, run by women.
DeleteAmen! I love chicken and buy whole chickens most of the time (except when I want wings.) I made chicken soup just yesterday, as it was just the right chilly temp outside for soup. We eat chicken more than any other meat in this household. Whole chickens were on sale this week for .88 cents a pound and I stocked up.
ReplyDeleteFowl University! I love it.
ReplyDeleteI cook my whole chickens on a raised v shaped meat rack, and turn it twice during roasting. I also slip garlic and rosemary under the skin.
Night follows night of chicken tacos, chicken salad, and finally, chicken soup.
I don't think I could eat a chicken if I had to kill it -- call me a wimp, but there it is.
When we kept 'table' chickens, we would dispatch and pluck on one day, then eat the next. That way it wasn't quite so 'in yer face'.
DeleteOne of our hens went missing yesterday... is there anything you want to confess?
ReplyDeleteIt was one of my students!
DeleteYou are the only blogger I know who would come up with the idea of chicken 'o' levels - if only they had run courses when I first got married - the first time I cooked one I roasted it upside down by mistake then panicked because it didn't have a breast. Keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteAverage sized whole fresh chicken from the supermarket, battery or free-range bred, cost around $10AUS.
ReplyDeleteThat does look a nice chicken in your photo. Here plain supermarket chickens are about N.Z.$10 and free range nearer twice that.
ReplyDeleteI often buy the whole chicken but sometimes buy just parts.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's much i could learn at Fowl University.
megan
Slightly belated comment, but I'd join up to your college - despite the Sainted Delia and the Wonderful Nigel telling me that it's easy to joint a chicken, the only time I tried I was left with several ragged bits that resembled neither a breast nor a leg, but rather the remains of a very nasty murder case.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I definitely agree that the whole chicken is a better bargain buy that bits.
Where can we cast our vote so that you do, indeed, become the Minister of Education? My hens want to cast their ballots as well. Or is this an appointed position in your country?
ReplyDelete