CHICKEN AS A FOOD
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| fried chicken |
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world.
In developed
countries, chickens are usually subject to intensive
farming methods.
The modern chicken is a
descendant of red junglefowl hybrids along with the grey
junglefowl first raised thousands of years ago in the northern parts of the
Indian subcontinent.
Chicken as a meat has been depicted in Babylonian
carvings from around 600 BC. Chicken was one of the most common meats available
in the Middle Ages.[citation needed] It was eaten
over most of the Eastern hemisphere and a number of different
kinds of chicken such as capons, pullets and hens were eaten. It was one of the basic
ingredients in the so-called white dish, a stew usually consisting of chicken and fried onions cooked in
milk and seasoned with spices and sugar.
In the United States in the 1800s, chicken was more
expensive than other meats and it was "sought by the rich because [it is]
so costly as to be an uncommon dish." Chicken consumption in the United
States increased during World War II due to a shortage of beef and pork. In Europe,
consumption of chicken overtook that of beef and veal in 1996, linked
to consumer awareness of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(mad cow disease)
Chicken meat contains about two to three times as
much polyunsaturated fat than most types of red meat
when measured as weight
percentage.
Chicken generally includes low fat in the meat
itself (castrated
roosters excluded). The fat is highly concentrated on the skin. A 100g
serving of baked chicken breast contains 4 grams of fat and 31 grams of
protein, compared to 10 grams of fat and 27 grams of protein for the same
portion of broiled, lean skirt steak.
However, according to a 2006 Harvard School of
Public Health study of 135,000 people, people who ate grilled skinless chicken
5 or more times a week had a 52 percent higher chance of developing bladder
cancer compared to people who did not. However, such strong associations were
not found in individuals regularly consuming chicken with skin intact.
Raw chicken may contain salmonella.
The safe minimum cooking temperature recommended by the U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services is 165 °F (74 °C) to prevent foodborne
illness because of bacteria and parasites. However, in Japan raw chicken is
sometimes consumed in a dish called torisashi, which is sliced raw
chicken served in sashimi style. Another preparation is toriwasa which
is lightly seared on the outsides while the inside remains raw.
Chicken can be cooked in many ways. It can be made
into sausages, skewered, put in salads, traditionally grilled or by using
electric grill, breaded and deep-fried, or used in various curries. There is
significant variation in cooking methods amongst cultures. Historically common
methods include roasting, baking, broasting, and frying. Western
cuisine frequently has chicken prepared by deep
frying for fast foods such as fried
chicken, chicken nuggets, chicken
lollipops or Buffalo wings. They are also often grilled for salads
or tacos.
Chickens often come with labels such as
"roaster", which suggest a method of cooking based on the type of
chicken. While these labels are only suggestions, ones labeled for stew often
do not do well when cooked with other methods.
Some chicken breast cuts and processed chicken
breast products include the moniker "with rib meat". This is a
misnomer, as it is the small piece of white meat that overlays the scapula, and
is removed with the breast meat. The breast is cut from the chicken and sold as
a solid cut, while the leftover breast and true rib meat is stripped from the
bone through mechanical separation for use in
chicken franks, for example. Breast meat is often sliced thinly and marketed as
chicken slices, an easy filling for sandwiches.
Often, the tenderloin (pectoralis minor) is marketed separately from the breast
(pectoralis major). In the US, "tenders" can be either tenderloins or
strips cut from the breast. In the UK the strips of pectoralis minor are called
"chicken mini-fillets".
Chicken bones are hazardous to health as they tend
to break into sharp splinters when eaten, but they can be simmered with
vegetables and herbs for hours or even days to make chicken
stock.
In Asian countries it is possible to buy bones alone
as they are very popular for making chicken soups, which are said to be
healthy. In Australia the rib cages and backs of chickens after the other cuts
have been removed are frequently sold cheaply in supermarket delicatessen
sections as either "chicken frames" or "chicken carcasses"
and are purchased for soup or stock purposes.
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Source:
Image by http://www.foodtolove.com.au
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