Poulet De Bresse

Well, I went back a few days later to try the Poulet de Bresse. The woman in the shop (her husband is the butcher) remembered me and she struck up a conversation with me which is really unheard of in Paris. People in the small towns are definitely more friendly and patient.  She explained to me that the older people do take their chickens with all the parts and prefer to cut it up themselves. Everyone else asks the butcher to prepare their chickens for them. I almost forgot to check inside - all those parts were left for me to discard.

Again, the chicken had all it's parts and I remembered to take a photo this time. Notice the white feathers and blue feet that are synonymous with this particular breed.

This is the only chicken that has been awarded the AOC designation which means that the raising of the chicken is held to high standards and produced in a traditional manner using only ingredients from specifically classified producers from designated areas. Happier chickens who are raised outside and eat grass and a wheat and milk mixture from this area just taste better!!

This chicken was fabulous, even better than the poulet noire. Once you taste this chicken, you will never want to eat another.

A simple recipe is:

Rub lemon all over chicken
In pan, add olive oil and garlic, all olive oil to top of chicken and season with gros sel and pepper.

Cook for about 1 1/2 hrs. It will be superb!! Serve with roasted potatoes prepared the same way.



 Here is a link to finding these chickens at various butchers all over France in case you find yourself tempted to try one out.