On Eating Chicken by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (read after .TXT) 📕

I have a question. When people boast about eating chicken at KFC or McDonald, have they ever tasted chicken brains or eyes? The broiler chicken from the local shop would not have them.

When we were living at Dindigul, my father built a spacious chicken coop to rear chicken. For days we had eaten fresh farm eggs and every Sunday we ate the fresh meat of a hen and not broiler chicken as we are eating today. The broiler chicken meat that we eat today comes to the market before it starts to lay eggs.

Every Sunday, my father would select the healthy chicken hen from the brood and keep it separate. After killing the chicken, he plucked away all the feathers. It was mandatory to remove them before the hen lost its warmth.

I would then gather dry twigs to make a fire. The chicken was then slowly turned above the fire to remove the tiny feather stubs. We all sat around him and watched the whole process. After this, he would then take a knife and open the hen. After the intestines were removed, he would rub the turmeric powder inside the breast of the hen.

The chicken was then cleaned in the water for three to four times. He would then cut the hen into big and small pieces. The legs and wings were cut and kept separate. My mother usually made soup from the chicken wings and legs.

The chicken heart, lungs, the liver and the eggs were kept separate. Apart from the egg with the shell, the eggs without the shell would be in clusters. Eggs were in all sizes varying from tiny to the usual size.

My mother mashed the boiled liver and made a delicious rasam with the fresh chicken stock. The rasam tasted delicious with the excellent combination of mashed liver, fresh chicken stock and tamarind pulp. The coriander leaves and the pepper powder enhanced the flavour of the rasam and it went well with the plain rice.

One week my mother served me the head of the hen. Fascinated by the way the science teacher taught about the human brain, I opened the skull to look how the brain of a chicken was. The two lobes of brain looked tiny. The brain did not taste different and I swallowed it before my sister eyed on it.

Usually, cocks were never killed for food. The flesh of cock did not taste good and it was full of fiber and not with fat. Only the male chicken that had not started to crow was used for food. The flesh of hen was soft and with more fat.

Nowadays no one has the patience to cut and clean the chicken. We buy pieces of broiler chicken from the local shop and cook. To be frank, for me it did not taste delicious.

The healthy process of plucking and cleaning had been replaced with dipping in the hot water and removing feathers along with the outer skin of the chicken.

The real taste of chicken was stripped off.

How could it be so tasty then?

 It has been years since I stopped eating chicken.  My daughter never liked to eat chicken or meat.  She preferred vegetables.  Because of her, I slowly stopped cooking chicken at home.

Now, I don't like to cook any meat or chicken at home. Only eggs.

One day my daughter surprised me telling that she ate chicken at her college canteen.  She started to eat chicken after sharing with her friends.  But, she doesn't want to eat chicken at home.

Images: motherearthnews.com
Publication Date: 05-29-2012

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Dedication:
Chicken that has not started to crow