Well it’s been about 9 months since our last post. As some of you know skin and bones suppers have been on hold after its very brief but successful and enriching stretch. Melody, the kids and I are spending time in Piedmont, Italy studying with Slow food, eating and researching. Our concept and desire for Skin and Bones is very much alive and we consider this to be a development period. I thought a good way for us to continue was to just tell stories and experiences of our findings here, that’s what Blogs are for right?
As I rack my brain for a good story to mention I’m tempted to try and start from the beginning of our time here, but I'm not. I just can’t get over something that happened today (the day I'm writing this that is). Its very fitting for those of you who know skin and bones, especially since our very first class was based on the chicken so this is a good re-entry.
Today was market day. We have been blessed with a flat in prime location for the outdoor market and today was typical, bustling noise down our alley, old women with purple perms pulling carts spilling over with produce, and old men riding bikes so slow you wonder if they can just balance in one place. Since its been nice and sunny out I had decided to make a chicken salad, so I walked down to a butcher stall and ordered a Gallina which is an older laying hen about a year and a half to 2 years old and passed its laying prime, quite fatty a bit tough, Perfect for stock. So I thought why not make stock and use the slow cooked meat for the salad, brilliant.
One thing I really appreciate about buying meat here is being offered the whole animal. For poultry apart from being plucked and intestine removed you can usually always guarantee everything else. The woman asked if I wanted it cleaned, I took her offer. She did the typical chop chop of the head and feet, wrapped them up, then cut the esophagus and removed the remaining offal. Then she let out a little giggle and said “ Ah uova fresce” and pulled out a yellow fatty blob. She wiped off some of the fat and revealed an un laid egg.
As she began to pack up my bird I couldn’t take my eyes off the egg. A sensation of disgust then interest, kind of queasy then exited. She packed up my bird, head and feet, then carefully wrapped my egg in a paper towel and nestled it in the bag. I had butterflies as I carried my parcel home, knowing that when I get there I’d have to deal with that egg. I was thinking about the fact that this bird was killed with egg, just going about her daily duty. The little circle ended in one go. But why was I grossed out by this, surely this must happen more often than we think. So what, chickens lay eggs and we eat them, then we eat the bird. Why when separated and clean, we think nothing of it. But open up a bird and find the egg inside and something strikes a nerve (mine anyway), I even spent some time in a slaughterhouse last week breaking down veal, and discussing offal cuts with the butcher as he poked and prodded the large hanging mass of innards. Conditioning to what’s expected I suppose. You realize more and more the reality of your actions and the often-grotesque sacrifice carried out to sustain your life, or to just give you a good meal.
I carried out my stock, and once the meat was tender I let the pieces cool and I gently pulled the meat from the bones. As for the egg, what now? It’s sitting there waiting for me. After thinking about it I decided that the best thing for me to do is crack it open and use the yolk to make aioli for my salad. The shell was thin but the yolk inside was very strong, I could let it roll around from hand to hand easily. I whipped it up with olive oil and limejuice and had perfect results. There it was, my salad of chicken with the egg. It was fresh and delicious, the stock is rich and our lunch was satisfying.
For those of you who would like it
Chicken Salad
1 bird worth chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onion
salt, pepper, hand-full chopped toasted almonds, (fresh tarragon is nice if you have it)
-get it all chopped and into a bowl
Unlaid aioli
1 room temp unlaid yolk ( or the freshest yolk you can get)
1 cup olive oil
lime juice (or any other acid)
salt
-Beat your yolk with a squeeze of lime juice until it starts to pale, add oil drop by drop while beating your heart out or use an electric whisk, once it starts to emulsify you can add the oil in a thin stream until done, add salt and more acid to taste, if need be you can thin it out with a touch of water. ( dont fret if it breaks, it takes practice if it does you can try adding another yolk)
-mix aioli and salad and enjoy
