Consuming Interest
Slick Chicks
By LESLIE ADRIAN When it comes to birds and beasts, it is the other way round; life is shortened instead of over-prolonged. But flavour fares no better. The nation that dotes 'on dogs is prepared to torture veal calves in cramped and dungeons (called broiler houses) for the sake of the taste- less white meat which other countries enrich with herbs and wine. A whole new industry is founded on the popularity of half-grown creatures: chickens, for example, unnaturally reared and prematurely slaughtered before their meat has acquired any 'of the flavours which make poultry worth eating; and I hear that they are even to start battery rabbits now. I can only hope that they are as successful' in breeding rabbits that don't taste of rabbit, as they have been in breeding chickens that don't taste of chicken.
In the poultry world science has beaten the seasons, the factory has replaced the farmyard.
'I feel that my palate need.% a higher education, Si,
A 'spring' chicken today is a twelve-week-old and can be bought on 365 days in the year. The old, evocative, selling labels—`asparagus chicken' and 'harvest chicken'—have disappeared, pro- cessed out of existeirce. Instead we have the meaningless term 'broiler,' imported from the United States—it's their synonym for poussin.
The so-called 'steam broiler' (described by the honester sort of dealer as 'battery bird,' a played- out egg-producer) is also the 'roast' chicken of numerous cheapjack hotels and restaurants —softened in the steamer before spending a short time in the oven to acquire its brown, roasted disguise. The end-result is tough and generally dry. But if the same bird had been labelled a casserole chicken, and treated appro- priately, it could honestly have delighted the most fastidious diner. In short, choosing the right sort of bird for a particular dish is as important to its success as the selection of the right cut of steak.
The battery-hen trade works on the basis of three and a half to four batches of birds off the production line a year, giving them just • twelve weeks from hatching to hanging. The economic chick, who will never top the scales at more than 4 lb., lives out his Brave New World existence on one square foot of floor space. Any less would retard his growth. As compensation for his loss of farmyard freedom he gets a dose of aurcomycin, terramycin or penicillin, `ten grammes or less per ton,' with his cereal, 'for 'growth promotion.' Although British law does not allow the use of antibiotic preservatives in food, it may be administered to the living animals as part of their feeding- stuffs. (My quotations are from the Ministry of Agriculture booklet Table Chickens.) Unfortunately for the discriminating, the best bird for all dishes except fries and grills is not the most economical to rear. A hen chicken is at her best betWeen' five and eleven months old, when she is 'mature enough to have ac- quired a good flavour, but her flesh has not begun to toughen. Males toughen much earlier, and the true spring chickens of pre-boiler days were young cockerels, hatched in early spring and barely fledged before they were killed. Spring chickens and broilers alike are the fillet steak of the poultry selection, tender, succulent, but lacking in full flavour. They respond to grilling or frying, with an hour spent in a yiturimaie of olive oil, black pepper, lemon juice and herbs (thyme, tarragon or marjoram) to enhance what nattiral flavour they possess.
A bird for roasting in the oven, by contrast, needs the intrinsic flavour which can only be instilled by a few more months of life. These birds are the hardest for the shopper to find, because they do not fit 'the modern marketing system. Older birds for the casserole and stew- pot are a by-product of the egg batteries. The half-grown chicks pour out of the broiler farms, often via a freezing station which further de- stroys their taste. But the young adults—the poulets de grain and the poulets reine—have to be searched out with patience and persistence.
Not every schoolboy knows, nor his mum, that the 'free range' bird tastes best, because of his varied diet. But the sophisticated, dis- satisfied with the production-line poulterer, keep their eyes open for the sign which says 'Free Range Table Birds,' like the one in the window of a new shop at 112 Baker Street, NWI. Whole Food Ltd. make a point of supplying new- laid eggs which have escaped being lionised, vegetables without benefit of chemistry, honey innocent of invert sugar, and cream and butter made from unpasteurised milk. They are busy convincing the farmers of the benefits of un- scientific food production (no chemicals, no Ministry circulars), and are still short of good poultry and eggs of this reactionary kind. Public demand has strengthened their hand but de- pleted their stock. And, of course, unfortunately, they may cost more. But for those who care about flavour, and not just the neat package, it is well worth it.
Now I come to think of it, the fact that the fastidious have simply to reject scientific de- velopment altogether is a worse indictment of our abuse of food than any other.
I have been particularly pleased recently by a new type of electric b'ulb, the Mazda Neatabulb. It has several advantages over the classical pear shape. It takes about a third less space, which keeps it further away from vulnerable shades. Because the filament is nearer the glass envelope it is a brighter bulb, wattage for wattage; and being angular in outline it is easier to handle, even when hot.
Designed by Philips (I believe it was known as the K lamp when it was experimental) it was tried out in Britain last year by AEI Lamp and Lighting Company, and was marketed, as they put it, intensively from the beginning of this year. It can only be obtained with a pearl, not a clear, envelope. Behind most shades it cannot be seen as a bulb at all—a great advantage in small rooms with 'contemporary' fittings. At Is. ltd. for a 100 watt bulb. the cost is only twopence more than an ordinary coiled coil lamp of the same wattage.
* Two finds from summer travellers: in Strasbourg, you can buy three stockings to the 'pair.' A returning husband, fugitive from an international conference, astounded his wife by buying two pairs of nylons for her and presenting three. In Rome, another temporary émigré, blinded by the reflection from the Victor Emmanuel monument, splashed 8.000 lire on a pair of Polaroid stin glasses. The glasses suited his eyes (he says) well enough, but he was almost as pleased with the case. Instead of the soon-worn- out rexine or leather cloth in which these expen- sive lenses are housed if bought in Britain, he received his eye protectors in a well-made leather case—with a piece of chamois to clean them with.
*
A reader who had the same trouble as I had with the Collar() pick-up needle-holding screws writes to tell me that Imhof's of New Oxford Street have some and are happy to wrap them for the ham-handed customer. He also told me their proper name: grub screws.
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