The Great Chicken Cookbook [antikvár]

Down through the ages, politicians on both sides of theAtlantic have been promising a chicken in every pot.That's because chicken has always been a symbol ofprosperity. Most countries in the world have a classicchicken dish in their culinary repertoire. In France it'sCoq au Vin, in the USA it's Southern Fried Chicken,Hungary has Chicken Paprika and England has its roastchicken with all the trimmings. In China and India thevariations are too numerous to name just one.Before the days of intensive farming, chickens werea once-a-week treat on Sunday, but as they becamemore readily available, problems developed.Chickens began to lose their flavour, and health hazards,due to the very techniques that made chicken moreavailable, made people wary of eating them. This was ablessing in disguise, because it led the poultry industryto explore new ways of rearing chickens. As a resultmany birds were better fed and cared for and the publicwas rewarded with birds with a much better flavour.With the advent of new rearing ideas came Corn-fedand Free-range chickens. Corn-fed chickens have agolden colour which is due to their feed, but they aren'tnecessarily free-range. Free-range chickens often havetheir diets supplemented with corn, so they, too, willhave the same golden colour.The EEC has set up a three tier system for definition:Traditional Free-range birds are old fashioned slow-growing breeds reared with a minimum of 39 days ofcontinuous day time outdoor access over an 81 dayperiod; Free-range birds are modern fast-growing breedsmore densely reared and have a minimum of28 days continuous outdoor access over a 56 day period;Free-range Total Freedom birds are breeds that naturallyrange for their food and must be reared in open air runsof unlimited area from a maximum of six weeks old. Allthree types must have feed containing at least 70 percent cereals. Free-range chickens are more expensive,but worth the price for their superior flavour and morehumane treatment.There are other distinctions among chickens, too, asyou will see, but whatever the description, chicken canbe the basis for so many different, delicious and nutritiousrecipe ideas that you will never be lost for inspiration.