Just as there is sparkling wine and champagne, and just as there is a Susita and a Mercedes, so there is a chicken and there is a Bresse chicken! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we will talk about the best chicken in the world. These chickens are raised on a relatively small number of farms in the area of the town of Bourg-en-Bresse in eastern France and have been around since the late 16th century. The chickens can be identified by their blood-red plumage, their immaculate white feathers and their blue legs, so it is not surprising that these chickens have become a national symbol since they share the same colors as the French flag. However, these chickens became famous not because they won the beauty queen competition but because of their yellowish, tender and delicious meat, which is now served in every 3 restaurant Michelin stars It is therefore not surprising that the famous gourmet Brillat Savarin called the Bears hen “the queen of hens and the hen of kings.”
So what makes the Bras chickens so delicious? The way they are raised, of course. As befits the queen of chickens, she is not raised in battery cages but runs freely on the farm grounds. During this period, the chicken eats a mixture of grains and milk (each breeder has its own special recipe). This mixture does not contain proteins on purpose in order to encourage the chicken to seek out and eat the worms in the environment and thus “get in shape.” After at least four months, the chickens are moved to what their breeders call the “chicken spa,” spacious, shaded wooden cages where the chickens rest for about two weeks to tenderize their meat before slaughter. One breeder defined this experience as a kind of doze in front of the television after a particularly satisfying meal…
Naturally, wild boars are more expensive than regular chickens, but they are certainly not unobtainable. Thus, you can get a wild boar weighing one and a half kilos for 20-25 euros on weekdays, but on holidays the prices jump up to about 50 euros. So if you are a cooking enthusiast and live in France, treat yourself next time to wild boar with “ham blanc” sauce (the recipe in French can be found here) and savor every bite.
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