Hello Foodies,Consider the chicken. No matter where your travels take you, you are sure to find chicken on the menu. In Italy, they cacciatore it. In Japan, they soy it. In the southern USA, they flour it and fry it and in Germany they brost it. In any case, it's a universal dish that's usually "safe" to order. Of course, no matter where you order it or how it's fixed, we all have our preferred piece. Breast? Leg? Thigh? Or perhaps, on the more wild side, the liver, heart. My mom tells me that she would fry the heart for me to snack on while she prepared her Sunday roasted chicken. I've out grown the heart, in my house it's now a cat-snack greeted with joyous meows and 'you'll be my friend forever' leg rubs.
What we don't normally consider about the chicken (at least in the US) is the breed. In France, breeds are extremely important and every region usually has it's preferred type. The chicken pin-up you see pictured here is the "gold-standard" Bresse chicken. This red, white and blue beauty is raised according to very strict standards and only in the area surrounding the town of Bourg-en-Bresse. When you are in France you may see poulet de Bresse on the menu followed by a very high price. And although I'm sure that many French have preferred pieces, usually you'll be served a half chicken with both dark and white meat.
The French, however, have one part of the chicken, the most tender and prized piece, that they have kept secret. I discovered it by chance one day at a classic French restaurant in Angers, Lucullus. On the menu the day we visited I saw poulet de Bresse and sot l'y laisse (pronounced soh lee less)offered as one of the specials of the day. I was intrigued. I had never heard of this type of 'preparation' and thought perhaps it was special to the Anjou region. I asked Mme. Houssay.
"No." she explained. "It is not a special preparation, it is the back of the chicken. Very tender, very special part, the absolute best part."
Hmm, the 'back' of the chicken, of course I had to try it. And she was right, these small oval pieces were melt-in-the-mouth tender and delicious. But I still wasn't sure exactly how this was the 'back' of the chicken and went on a little fact finding chicken chase. I discovered that these pieces are called the "oysters" in English. These small, very tender oysters are located in the hollow of the iliac bones just above the tail. As for the French name for this delicacy, sot l'y laisse, literally translated means "only an idiot leaves it there"...kinda tells you just how choice this part of the chicken is, doesn't it? So, the next time you're in France, scrutinize the menu and hope that you find sot l'y laisse featured the day you are there and of course you'll order it, won't you?
Enjoy!!
Debra
3 comments:
My father always carved the roast chicken and saved the "parson's nose" for himself. Is that the same as sot l'y laisse?
Bonjour Anon!
Not the same, the little piece you are talking about is that fleshy part at the rear of the chicken. Here's a great explanation of your dad's favorite part from wikipedia:
The phrase "parson's nose", from the notion that an English parson may 'have his nose in the air', upturned like the chicken's rear end. The term must have been known as early as around 1400 AD, when a carpenter had been contracted to provide new choir stalls for St Mary's Church, Nantwich.[verification needed] The vicar was either slow to pay the artisan, or did not pay at all. In retaliation, on the last misericord in the stalls, the carpenter carved a bird with an image of that Vicar's face with protuberant nose as rump. The carving is still visible today and featured on a postcard on sale at the church.
Bonne continuation! Debra
hat was MOST interesting! Reminded me of my childhood to a degree. My dad’s family was “mostly” southern, so a menu of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and milk gravy was frequently Sunday-gathering fare at my grandma’s place. The “grown-ups” fought over the gizzards and the hearts (YUCK!) but I loved the boney pieces – the “wingy” part of the wings and the backs. I think I liked them because they were the crispiest, crunchiest parts. But – now that you mention it -- I do remember that super-delicate meat in the little crannies in the back piece. Wow! I haven’t even thought about a “real” fried chicken in years. I don’t remember this myself, but I’ve heard my mom say that grandma kept her own chickens for many years long ago. And she was quite adept at catching them and wringing their necks. Now THAT was a piece my dad always liked. So weird! Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
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