Chicken Cuisine in Society

Anthony Dang
Anthony Dang
ENG130
Dr. Reed-Jones
Assignment #4
Chicken Cuisine in Society

The first instance of chicken consumption in human history is dated back to 300 B.C. in

the ancient city of Maresha, located in present-day Israel. The city of Maresha was a cultural hub

of the region, being a trade route between Jerusalem and Egypt. During this time, chickens were

usually prepared in stews, spit roasting, and baked into pies. Chicken became such a meat staple

across the world because they are easy to raise and have very versatile cooking methods. Due to

this, the consumption of chicken spread rapidly across the Roman Empire after they conquered

the land of Maresha. Farmers were easily able to accommodate for the new livestock because

chickens ate many of the crops that farmers already grew: barely, corn, and other grains. In

addition, chicken also took less real estate to raise, a chicken coop verses acres of land for cattle

to graze. Today, chicken has become the second most consumed meat in the world and is found

in signature cuisines from every region of the world.

One of the first methods of consuming chicken was preparing it into stew-like dish. In

Jewish tradition, Jacob cooked a lentil stew for Isaac who was mourning the death of Abraham,

which made lentils the traditional meal when in mourning. In biblical times, chicken was cooked

into a lentil due to the ease of preparation and the availability of ingredients and utensils. The

lentil recipes during this time consisted of many herbs and vegetables such as cilantro, carrots,

celery, and parsley. To prepare a traditional Jewish lentil, the cilantro and unpeeled carrots are

cut into medium sized chunks and sautéed with diced onions in olive oil until caramelization.

Chicken stock would then be added into the pot along with shredded chicken and barley to create
a soup-like mixture. The mixture is to held at a light boil until the consistency thickens to a more

viscous stew-like dish and is then garnished with bay leaves. The lentils in biblical times were

customarily eaten with bread; however, due to an abundance of ingredients today, nonbiblical era

ingredients can be used, such as rice or noodles, to enjoy this historical dish.

Chicken is the basis of many dishes because of its bland taste. This allows many different

bold seasonings to be used without compromising tastes. An example of this is the use of spices

in the traditional Chinese dish of Hainan Chicken, a dish that consists of rice, chicken, and a

dipping sauce. The chicken is first cured with kosher salt and cleaned. Then it is boiled in water

along with ginger and green onion for deeper flavor. While the chicken is boiling, a white goo

may float to the surface, remove this from the water with a skimmer to preserve the taste of the

chicken. Continue to boil the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 107 degrees

Fahrenheit, then immediately remove the chicken from the pot, and place it into an ice bath,

rotating it several times. Placing the chicken in an ice bath causes the chicken to rapidly cool,

immediately halting the cooking process to prevent overcooking, keeping the meat soft and

tender verses a rubbery texture. The key aspect of this dish is not the chicken, specifically, but is

the rice. Using the broth that was used to boil the chicken, pour uncooked jasmine rice and heat

until rice reaches the correct tenderness. Using the broth to cook the rice verses using ordinary

water, allows the rice to obtain the aroma of the chicken as well as the ginger and green onion

spice. Although the rice and chicken are essential for this dish, the sauce is the signature

component that makes this dish so iconic. The sauce primary ingredient is ginger; to make the

sauce blend ginger, garlic, the broth used to boil the chicken, salt, sugar, and sesame oil to create

a tangy yet satisfying flavor to dip the chicken in. These ingredients combined make this dish

ranked number 45 on World’s 50 most delicious foods in 2011 (CNN).

 Another reason chicken is the staple meat in many different regions is because of its ease

to prepare: for example, its ability to be halal. The term halal is Arabic for ‘permissible.’ Halal

meat, as defined in Islam, is the hand slaughtering of poultry by draining the blood without

allowing it to soak into the meat, and since chickens are relatively small animals, they are easy to

handle and to drain. A dish that is famous throughout many South Asian and Middle Eastern

countries is Chicken Tikka Masala. The chicken in this dish is halal and is smothered in a spicy

thick sauce and is served with either rice or naan bread. The chicken is first cured with lemon

juice and salt and left to marinate for ten minutes in the refrigerator. While the chicken is

marinating, mix garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala, chili powder, and yogurt until it

is a pasty consistency and add to the chicken for additional marinating. After at least an hour of

marinating, skewer the chicken pieces and grill until cooked thoroughly and set the cooked

chicken aside. Next, sauté onions and ginger in a pan until golden brown, then add ground

turmeric, ground coriander, paprika, red chili powder and lastly, tomato paste. Allow the mixture

to fry while vigorously mixing. Lastly, pour the thick sauce over the chicken skewers, sprinkle

cilantro over it, and serve with basmati rice. This dish’s recipe varies tremendously, depending

on the chief; in fact, the two common ingredients that all the recipes have in common is the

presence of chicken and the flare of chili. However, this dish isn’t only popular in South Asia

and the Middle East, in 2001 chicken tikka masala was declared a true British national dish

because of its popularity in the country.

Chicken also can be preserved for a longer period, as compared to other meats. In the

early 1800’s, most of the cooking in the South were done by women and were prepared daily. At

this time, chicken was viewed as a delicacy within the African American community due to its

cost. Enslaved cooks would experiment with fried chicken recipes, but it wasn’t until the Civil
War that fried chicken claimed to fame. Southerners realized that the process of frying chicken

slowed the process of spoilage, allowing soldiers to stock a supply of food when traveling to the

battlefield. Since then, fried chicken became an iconic dish of the South. In today’s culinary

world, fried chicken has been merged with another popular dish to create a new icon, waffles.

The exact birthplace of the chicken and waffles combination is not known; however, it easily

seen as a favorite to both waffle and chicken lovers, as shown by the success of restaurants such

as Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles. The ingredients of this cuisine is

separated into two basic components, fried chicken and waffle. The fried chicken batter consists

of eggs, cream, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper whisked together. The chicken is dipped

into the mixture and coated with flour and then deep fried. On the other hand, the waffle batter is

made of flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, and salt. It is mixed and then poured

and baked in a waffle mold until golden brown. The fried chicken and the waffle is then

combined on a plate and drizzled with maple syrup. This simple combination of two hearty

American dishes attests to the success of Roscoe’s, allowing it to expand to seven restaurants in

the Greater Los Angeles Area and soon to be into the Chicago market.

Chicken is one of the most versatile meats because of the variety of different methods

that it could be prepared. In biblical times, chicken was boiled into a stew with many different

herbs and vegetables because of its ease and simplicity. In East Asian cultures, chicken is usually

boiled and seasoned with strong spices to flavor the dish, usually with garlic or ginger. In

Muslim communities, halal chicken is used to cook dishes such as chicken tikka masala which

use a spice-filled sauce to flavor the grill chicken. During the Civil War Era, Southern cooks

prepared fried chicken to send to troops without fear of immediate spoilage which then led to the

popularity of fired chicken and franchises such as Popeyes and Kentucky Fried Chicken
spawned. Chicken cuisine is ever changing and is constantly evolving, as shown by the

popularity of Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. Currently, chicken is one of the cheapest

meats and one of the most healthy sources of protein. These two factors along with the variety of

cooking methods is causing chicken to quickly overtake pork as the most consumed meat in the

world. Chicken has played a crucial role in human history, starting from feeding the Roman

Empire to the one dollar spicy chicken sandwich at Carl’s Jr. Given the history of chicken

cuisine, one unanswered question remains; which was eaten first, the chicken or the egg?
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