Blue Foot chicken
Encyclopedia
Blue Foot Chicken is a Canadian breed of chicken
bred to resemble the French chicken Poulet de Bresse
, also known as "Bresse Blue".
The breed is attributed to Canadian
breeder Peter Thiessen of British Columbia
and was later marketed in the United States by California farm manager Bob Shipley. The Blue Foot Chicken was originally conceived as an alternative to the French Bresse Bleu, availability of which is tightly regulated by French law, with export expressly forbidden. It was bred by Thiessen over a period of 15 years starting in the 1980s. The breed was almost lost in 2004 when avian flu fears in Canada led to the Canadian government ordering the destruction of vast numbers of fowl, including all the chickens at Thiessen's farm. However, one week before this decision was made, several breeders
had been relocated to California, allowing the breed to survive and flourish in the US.
Blue Foot Chicken is characterized by a red comb
, white feathers, and steel-blue feet, which give the breed its name. This trait is so admired that the feet are usually left on for presentation. Blue Foot are typically slaughtered much later than factory farm or free range chicken, being left to grow on their own rather than relying on force-feeding or power feed. Thus they require 12 to 14 weeks to reach market size, rather than the 42 days possible under factory farm conditions. After slaughter, the chickens may be air-chilled, rather than undergoing commercial water-chilling, leaving the meat dense and rich in flavor, as no water is absorbed into the meat during the chilling process..
In the wake of the Canadian cull, all remaining stocks are now in California, and the Blue Foot is being marketed there as the California Blue Foot or California Poulet Bleu, in spite of its Canadian origin.
Blue Foot Chicken is sold for raw consumption in Japan, under special license, as Toriwasa sashimi
. Raw consumption was mentioned on Iron Chef America
(Season 5 Episode 1).
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
bred to resemble the French chicken Poulet de Bresse
Bresse (chicken)
The Bresse is a breed of chicken originating from the Bresse area of the Rhône-Alpes region of France.-Overview:The birds are highly valued for their gamey depth of flavour, yet with fine, tender flesh and delicious, clean-flowing fat. Roughly 1.2 million are raised annually, but such is the...
, also known as "Bresse Blue".
The breed is attributed to Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
breeder Peter Thiessen of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and was later marketed in the United States by California farm manager Bob Shipley. The Blue Foot Chicken was originally conceived as an alternative to the French Bresse Bleu, availability of which is tightly regulated by French law, with export expressly forbidden. It was bred by Thiessen over a period of 15 years starting in the 1980s. The breed was almost lost in 2004 when avian flu fears in Canada led to the Canadian government ordering the destruction of vast numbers of fowl, including all the chickens at Thiessen's farm. However, one week before this decision was made, several breeders
Breeder (animal)
In agriculture and in the hobby of animal fancy, a breeder is an individual animal used for selective breeding. Usually a breeder is a purebred animal bred with the intent of producing purebred or even show-quality animals...
had been relocated to California, allowing the breed to survive and flourish in the US.
Blue Foot Chicken is characterized by a red comb
Comb (anatomy)
Anatomically, a comb is a fleshy growth, caruncle, or crest on the top of the head of gallinaceous birds, most notably turkeys, pheasants, and domestic chickens...
, white feathers, and steel-blue feet, which give the breed its name. This trait is so admired that the feet are usually left on for presentation. Blue Foot are typically slaughtered much later than factory farm or free range chicken, being left to grow on their own rather than relying on force-feeding or power feed. Thus they require 12 to 14 weeks to reach market size, rather than the 42 days possible under factory farm conditions. After slaughter, the chickens may be air-chilled, rather than undergoing commercial water-chilling, leaving the meat dense and rich in flavor, as no water is absorbed into the meat during the chilling process..
In the wake of the Canadian cull, all remaining stocks are now in California, and the Blue Foot is being marketed there as the California Blue Foot or California Poulet Bleu, in spite of its Canadian origin.
Blue Foot Chicken is sold for raw consumption in Japan, under special license, as Toriwasa sashimi
Sashimi
Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat, most commonly fish, sliced into thin pieces.-Origin:The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e...
. Raw consumption was mentioned on Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
(Season 5 Episode 1).