What kind of birds do you want?

[fifi]

I had an interesting question put to me and I would like to share and see what others obsessed by food might say. A friend is looking into raising odd birds. He is serious about this, has the property, is going to consult with Texas A&M, etc. etc. etc. He is a very serious guy and goes into a project with all the information he can get. Therefore, the question . . . If I could get any bird that I wanted, what would that be?

I am probably a lousy one to ask since I really haven't had a lot of different birds. But there are some I am curious about. This was actually an interesting thought process. Perhaps others would like to play.

Quail . . . Not unusual but I would like to reprise some quail that I had out in West Texas. These are big suckers, for quail. I haven't a clue whwat they really are.

The French Chicken . . . What the heck is it? Bresse? (or something like that) I have never had one, but I here so much about it here that I am curious.

Pheasant . . . I don't think I have ever eaten it which is really odd. Surely, I have. And the feathers are so pretty. I would like to have enough to make a boa, if I knew how to make a boa, or if I had a clue as to where and how to wear it.

Heritage turkey of some sort . . . I guess I am curious to see if it is really worth eating without frying its butt.

Some sort of duck . . . I have looked for duck as big as the ones Julia worked with way back when. Back far enough that the TV program was in black and white. I think I remember that they were Long Island or something like that. They were as big as a small turkey. Other odd types of duck would be welcome as well.

Eggs . . . I really want some of those eggs in the Martha Stewart designer colors. Duck eggs are good, too. My Great Aunt Minnie used to use duck eggs to make her amazing meringues. I will probably never make a meringue but having duck eggs around just seems like a good idea. Has anyone ever eaten a turkey egg?

Organically grown or not? I really don't care about the "certified organic" bit but I am sure that a lot of people do so that is a marketing decision. I do want to know that the birds have been running around as nature intended. This is not from any sentimentality on my part. I just think that being raised as they evolved to live has got to make them taste better.

Well, there you are. That is my list. What would you ask for if you had your own personal farmer?

[Cucina]

Young chickens that weigh between 2-2.5 pounds - no more. They taste better, are better for frying especially and are VERY hard to find. I learned this from my grandmother's cook when I was little and would tag along to the grocery store. I came to believe it was true after going years without finding chickens of this size. The texture of the larger ones is just different. You can now ocassionally find them in this size range at Whole Foods - but it's hit or miss, so if you see one, you throw out all your other dinner plans and go for it.

[Ktepi]

Oh, definitely duck. Gosh. For both meat and eggs -- I make eggs three or four times more often when I've got duck eggs around.

This month's Gourmet -- I think; maybe it was Bon Appetit -- has a recipe that calls for heritage goose, something I know nothing about but sounded interesting. My one time cooking goose, I didn't think it was worth the extra expense and effort relative to duck -- but another breed might be another story.

And roosters! I mean, they're not exotic or anything, but they're not easy to find either (I get them at an Asian market), and coq au vin without them is a different dish entirely.

Are there other waterfowl that can be raised for food and/or eggs? I'd be curious about that too.

[Mayhaw Man]

Pheasant. It is the most underrated of the birds, I think. I love pheasant. John Besh had some on the menu at August the other night in New Orleans and it was stupendously good. Pheasant confit, a pheasant breast, and some kind of nicely done sauce made from stock from the leftover bits. Delicious.

[fifi]

Young chickens that weigh between 2-2.5 pounds - no more.  They taste better, are better for frying especially and are VERY hard to find.  I learned this from my grandmother's cook when I was little and would tag along to the grocery store.  I came to believe it was true after going years without finding chickens of this size. The texture of the larger ones is just different.  You can now ocassionally find them in this size range at Whole Foods - but it's hit or miss, so if you see one, you throw out all your other dinner plans and go for it.

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Boy is that the truth! We griped about that a lot in the Fried Chicken Cook-Off. I came to the conclusion that one cannot produce good pan fried chicken with a bird any more than 3 pounds. 2.5 is better. The pieces are just too big to get done inside and have a perfect, not overbrowned crust on the outside. Most chickens I see at the market are at least 4 pounds and they still call them fryers!!! Maybe there is some sort of smaller breed that peaks in flavor at about 2.5 pounds.

[GordonCooks]

Poulet Bresse (or domestic Blue feet), Grouse, and Pekin Duck

[scottie]

One day, when I have a farm, I plan to raise squab, Muscovy ducks, and various types of rare-breed chickens (and rabbits, but they don't have wings).

Maybe quail.

Maybe geese, but they are supposed to be ill-tempered. However, at $60 or $70 a pop, it might be worth the investment. Plus, they make good watchdogs and weeders.

Definitely running around and eating bugs, "as nature intended."

Your friend should check out the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website. Very useful for the rare-birds breeder.

[jsolomon]

Speaking as someone who spent several of his formative summers raising fowl for his family to eat, I must say

Chickens, ducks, geese, and pheasants.

Pheasants have the added bonus of in many areas of the US, you can contract with game preserves to provide them certain numbers at certain times of the year.

Pheasant is delightful game. It's taste and texture are simply divine.

Duck is fabulous, too.

Turkey--pretty good, but they are tough to try to control.

[fou de Bassan]

I would say geese, pheasant and grouse. All have an upscale niche and aren't often available.

The grouse might be fiddly, though, and they should be aged and so might not be cost effective on a small scale, but they are delicious!

[I_call_the_duck]

Duck, of course.

Quail, squab, pheasant. For more "normal" fowl, I'd choose geese, some sort of chicken, turkey.

Organically grown or not? I really don't care about the "certified organic" bit but I am sure that a lot of people do so that is a marketing decision. I do want to know that the birds have been running around as nature intended. This is not from any sentimentality on my part. I just think that being raised as they evolved to live has got to make them taste better.

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I think here you're mixing up organically grown and free-range, which are two different things. Organically grown means that the birds were not injected with hormones. Free-range generally means that these birds were happily running around the day before they met the axe. Though I read somewhere that the definition can be pretty vauge--"running around" can be for as little as a few minutes before they're caged again. But you'd definitely want organic. You can definitely taste the difference.

[docsconz]

I can't believe that no one has mentined pintade or guinea fowl! Or if one wants to get more exotic, how about woodcock

[BarbaraY]

Definitely guinea fowl! I know they're noisy but I just like to look at them. They're so exotic and primitive....................and good to eat.

Chukar, too. I've never tasted one but would like to try them. Imagine they would be a lot like quail.

[jayt90]

The French Chicken . . . What the heck is it? Bresse? (or something like that) I have never had one, but I here so much about it here that I am curious.

Well, what is So special about Bresse birds?

I posed the question in 'France' A year ago and didn't get any answer.

There has to be some sytematic breeding and raising method that escapes us.

[racheld]

We raised mallards once. On the lawn. My Dad had ordered a hundred babies from one of those mail-you-poultry places when my children were very young, and as soon as he could tell drake from hen, he brought us two boys and four girls. They were great pets, waddling around all the acreage, wading in the little stream formed by forty years of erosion outside the pumphouse.

They were beautiful creatures, those beautiful green heads gleaming in the sunlight, quite companionable and conversational, gathering at the porch steps several times a day and awaiting a treat. I'd always cook extra pancakes at breakfast, cut them into neat bites, then go out and sit on the steps, holding out bite after bite on a fork, as each one came up and took a dainty selection. They didn't push, they didn't squawk or flap, and except for their naturally-untidy bathroom habits, they seemed to be the perfect pets; even the dozen or so seasoned old bird dogs would just open a lazy eye at the little flock, sigh gently, and go back to sleep.

They nested that first Summer, and came parading around from the outbuildings, leading a line of tiny yellow puffs on stick legs, all cheep and down, following trustingly along right up to those big-jawed hounds. Then those sweet, poufy babies grew up to be big old quacky squawky ducks, eating their weight in cracked corn, stealing the Jim Dandy right out of the mouths of the dogs, leaving their gooey calling cards from pillar to post, and right up on the porch.

So we decided, since Daddy's flock of 94 had not fared too well in the wild environs of the lake, falling prey to turtles and foxes and other wildlife, we'd just make the sacrifice and give him all of ours. We loaded them into cages and boxes and a few went into the far back seat of the three-seater station wagon. Away we went for the twenty-mile journey, our progress heralded by mutters and quacks, and our trek through the towns between a cause of much pointing and hilarity. Especially the ones being chauffeured in style. Two of them were vainly trying to flap-balance atop the back seat, and one hen fell astraddle for a while, her wildly flapping wings and can't-get-a-grip slick duckfeet giving her the look of a ride-em-cowboy rodeo star. Another brown little beauty had made her way into the far back window, and sat cuddled like on a nest, greeting passersby like one of those little flocky-skinned noddy dogs.

They'd been in a couple of our farm ponds, but when they saw that lake, they'd gone to Heaven. They all took off, skimming the fields like dive-bombers, hitting that water with the force of a bellyflop diver. And they were home.

For years after, I'd go out and visit "my" birds carrying a big bag of stale bread loaves---making a detour past the camphouse kitchen for a glass plate and a fork. A step to the end of the dock, a few quick clinks of fork to plate, and a great flurry of waterfowl would come from all bends and curves of the shoreline, making their way to the familiar call. I could always tell which ones had been ours---they'd swim up to my feet , then walk right up onto my lap, accepting their bites from the fork, just like when they were babies.

Except for a Banty rooster we raised in the house, on hardwood floors, when I was a teenager, this is my only experience raising fowl.

And I think you COULD probably herd turkeys, but it takes a mighty long stick.

[Mark Sommelier]

I can't believe that no one has mentined pintade or guinea fowl! Or if one wants to get more exotic, how about woodcock

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John,

You took the words out of my mouth! Guinea Hen, woodcock, partridge, and pheasant all have conventional sources in the US. They are seasonal. The question is how many to raise? How much demand is there for grouse or partridge? These are red meat birds, normally eaten bleeding rare. Most people are not used to that. Squabs seem easiest to raise. D'Artagnan already supplies poussin (tiny chicken) to east coast US luxury markets. Remember the pies of lark's tongues mentioned in Renaissance literature? There's a niche yet to be filled.

mmmmm lark's tongues (Homer Simpson voice).

[Pan]

If this were truly the realm of fantasy, how about a moa or dodo? I believe both of those birds were hunted to extinction, so I guess they were tasty.

[Adam Balic]

If this were truly the realm of fantasy, how about a moa or dodo? I believe both of those birds were hunted to extinction, so I guess they were tasty.

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Actually, Dodo didn't tasste very good at all (finished off by introduced pigs and rats) and the Moa (actually numerous species of) was the only large food animal on NZ, so it was always going to be a target.

My fantasy world ideal bird in the UK would be a range of great tasting chickens for roasting, boiling and frying that are raised and processed in a humane manner. No need for blue feet either.

[Hest88]

Well...ortolan of course.

[Chufi]

Guinea fowl, pheasant, patridge. Oh, I love partridge..

[Daniel]

I have a secret dream of owning an ostrich farm..I just dont know if my co-op board would let me..

Edited November 16, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

Well...ortolan of course.

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Still illegal, unfortunately.

[fifi]

Heh heh . . . We had what is fondly called an ostrich and emu "bubble" here in Texas a few years ago. It was touted like a get-rich-quick scheme. Breeding pairs went for ridiculous prices. Then the market never really went very far, though you do still see ostrich on some menus, supply ran amok over demand and the prices collapsed. I do hear that some disgruntled folks just turned the darn things lose in the east Texas piney woods where they have become a nuisance and startle the deer hunters. That may be a "country legend" though.

As far as I can tell, the more "exotic" birds aren't that readily available here in Texas. Not many folks are inclined to order something like that from "yankee land" you know. But I will bet that if they could get them at the local Whole Foods or Central Market they would be willing to try them. You guys are bringing up some interesting possibilities.

How could anybody eat a dodo? They had a high cute & cuddly factor.