Black chicken

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Once on Chopped, one of the mystery basket ingredients was Black Chicken. I think it has been used on Top Chef as well in one of that show's early seasons. In case any of the FLDG cooks have ever cooked that bird, I thought you might like to know what it looks like on the hoof, so to speak. First pic is Cassanova the rooster and a hen. Second pic is Cassanova, Big Boy the Australorp and Bull the Brahma cockeral for size comparison. Silkies have feathers that resemble fur, black skin and bones, and even gray-black flesh. I'm not convinced that eating one would outweigh the pleasure of watching their antics. We have 7 Silkies, and some look like dustmops more than anything.

I cooked up some black chicken a while back (may have mentioned it here, I can't remember). My understanding is that these birds tend to be a bit tougher and less fleshy than most commercial breeds. That is consistent with my experience. I believe they're used in Chinese cooking, mostly in some kind of chicken soup that's supposed to be good for you when you're sick. I can see them working well for that.

It's an ancient breed, bantam-sized, and first described by Marco Polo in around 1260 as chickens with fur. They are definitely not your hybrid broiler/fryer that Americans are used to, and would be much more suited to long, wet cooking methods.
Don't know if I'll ever try one, since Gail has named them all, and their entertainment value is enormous. But, ya never know...

[Jenise]

Mike, I do think you discussed your black chicken adventures here. I recall mentioning, anyway, never having eaten one myself by routinely finding them in the Vietnamese markets I used to cruise in Little Saigon (Southern California), so had the impression that they were an Asian delicacy.

I think that soup is a specific remedy for "lady problems."

F

[Jenise]

Robert, the chickens are beautiful. We always mentally adopt a few at the chicken exhibits at the state fair here, but don't dare own--we'd probably never eat chicken again, and it's our favorite meat.

Australorps are some of my favorite chickens. They are mild tempered and are very prolific egg layers.
Note: some breeds of chicken are much lighter in muscle structure than others. This seems especially true for some of the ornamentals. Usually the best laying breeds aren't as meaty as the others. The toughness of the flesh is determined solely by age and amount of activity not the breed

Except for the Silkies (which we bought for the looks alone) our flock is primarily dual use breeds, decent egg production plus some meat on the bones should we decide to cull for the cookpot.