I`m 36 years old.
My first 4 years of conscious life were lived in the country. I remember seeing chickens raised and slaughtered.
I`m 36 years old.
I grew up in the teenaged era of fast food – it wasn`t young and fragile; it was a concept that was fascinated with itself and living a careless and self-involved existence (of course the irony is that many teenagers are neither).
We were fascinated about it. I remember when our first McDonald`s was announced as coming to town. I met the daughter of the owner and thought she was the luckiest girl in the world.
My favourite McMeal was Chicken nuggets (I still adore anything that can be dipped).
I`m 36 years old.
I remember my father carving many Sunday meals – roast chicken that was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.
I`m 36 years old.
I remember learning how to barbeque a chicken as being one of my first `real` recipes. Slather with mayo, salt, pepper and maybe a bit of dry mustard.
I`m 36 years old.
I went more than 5 years where I did not eat red meat, game or pork. I ate a minimal amount of chicken and fish at that time.
I`m 36 years old.
I had never (until last night) butchered a chicken. I`ve lived my entire life interacting with poultry in one shape or another but had never taken down a bird like this. It`s an experience that a highly recommend for any meat-eater and one that I`m struggling to describe.
The entire experience was foreign. I learned, very fast, that carving a cooked chicken and butchering a raw one is two different things. The uncooked version is much less forgiving and raw strength is of no assistance. Learning to study the joints and follow then with my blade is going to more than one chicken. I struggled removing the joints and found myself surprised that I was placing the knife an inch (or more) away from where it needed to be.
As interesting as the actual act of butchering was it was the psychological element that was revealing to me. I thought I knew a lot about chicken – if not a lot, then certainly enough. I learned, more than anything, is that I`ve been taking it for granted for a long time. That I don`t understand chicken as well as I need to or as well as I thought. I learned a lot more about the bird and the entire experience vividly reminded me that chicken is not born on styrofoam trays. There is an ugly truth behind my perfect seared chicken breast and, while I can reconcile it, I don`t want to take that for granted.
We`ll share details of how to butcher a chicken on Wednesday (I`m certainly no pro) and I`ll continue to try to put words to what was one of the most stunning pieces of education I have received in a long time.
I remember my first time butchering a chicken in chef school. It was cumbersome to hold and to position at first, felt kind of weird putting your blade thru the flesh, then after years of doing it I found some kind of sick pleasure out of how mechanical it got. Kind of felt like a poultry serial killer. The reward of having two breasts perfectly separated and not torn, the joy of getting the cut right thru the joint so it easily comes apart!!!! I am a little out of practice now but for some reason still enjoy taking a chicken apart. 😉
The first time I took apart a chicken like this, I couldn’t do it. I think my knives and my nerves weren’t sharp enough.
The second time I did it, I was breaking down a poussin, and it made me cry.
The third time, I felt really empowered and competent – and also thankful for the chicken and like I understood a bit more about it as an animal.
I agree – I think this is a really good thing for any meat eater. Friends have taken it a bit further and have helped with the slaughtering process at a local farm. I think I’d probably cry, but that I should also probably consider it. If I/we are going to eat animals, I/we should know where they came from and how they experienced life AND also death.
Looking forward to wednesdays post. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while but we don’t buy chickens very often.
waiting with bated breath…
This needs to be said and heard more. I don’t think our society is more profoundly divorced from any single thing that we consume than we are from meat. Thank you for sharing these words.
Good for you having te guts to do this! A lot of people don’t.
I love spatchcocking the chicken for the grill! It’s great, you remove the spinal column and then the chicken can be laid completely flat for cooking. I had to learn after joining our CSA here in Tennessee!
A good, very sharp knife is as essential as a little knowledge Joel. Seriously, for the job you are doing, I would re-think the hardware you are using. (That is just from looking at the picture) Butchers use particular knives for a reason. I have broken down poultry for a long time, and, while I can never claim to be an expert, the right tool makes it much easier. It can be the difference between a clean cut and a tear.
Paul
Paul,
You are a step ahead of me :)… That indeed was one of the first things I learned – it was a humbling experience to say the least. I had sharp going for me but the wrong equipment against – while I made it through I am indeed curious of how the results would alter with a simple deboning knife. I think there could be another post coming….heh.
Here’s the full results and learning.
And you are far more the expert than I my friend – all advice is welcome!