Blue-Footed Wonders: Poulet de Bresse

In Japan, we have kobe beef. And in France, we have poulet de bresse. These pampered chickens with their distinctive blue feet and fine plumage are though to have some of the most delicious meat on earth. Have you ever tried it?

Poulet de bresse are protected under the French AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlée). This means that only certain farmers in the Bresse region can raise these chickens and only following very specific guidelines. It also tends to mean that you’ll end up paying a fair amount for the privilege of eating it!

We’ve never had the opportunity to try this chicken, but we’re extremely curious about it. We’ve heard that the the meat is very tender and juicy with a distinct rich flavor. Compared to the commercial mass produced chicken most of us are familiar with, we’re sure there’s no contest. But it would be interesting to compare it to the free-range chickens we can get locally.

What do you think about this chicken?

Related: How to Roast a Chicken

(Images: Aleks and Kweniston, licensed under Wikipedia Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Comments (3)

I recently started buying chickens from a local farm, and I was surprised (though not in hindsight) to see that the breasts were small, and the legs were suuuper long. (obviously if a chick gets a decent, longer life, the meat would be like this...) It was delicious, though!
Do you know what the cuts are like for this type of chicken?

Factory farms uses different weirdo breeds developed for super quick growth. The legs cannot support the size of the monstrous breasts.

Blue foot chickens are tasty, both here and in France. There are a few growers that have them.

The Poulet de Bresse is my favourite chicken, by far. I cook with it as often as I can, bearing in mind that they cost between 16 and 19 Euros a kilo.

There used to be a Poulet de Bresse farmer coming with his poultry (they also raise capons, turkeys, etc. in Bresse) to our weekly market, and he sold his products for just a bit more than he would charge butchers (around 12 Euros a kilo), so I used to buy them a lot more often in the past (he hasn't been to our market in almost 2 years...).

The French are not big fans of breast meat, finding legs more flavourful (well, they are!), and so the Poulet de Bresse has small, but compartively flavourful breast meat and fabulous legs.

My daughter is always fascinated by them because when you go to buy them, they have their white feathered heads and blue feet still atached (complete with prominent nails).

The meat tastes like the meat of a chicken who lived a good chicken life -- it is never tough, but it also doesn't just shred or fall apart like watery factory chickens (in France, chickens are always dry to the touch, never watery). and yes, it is very flavourful.

It is sublimely perfect chicken.