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Compared to the American diet I’m used to, Italians don’t seem to eat a lot of chicken. In fact, many Italians (Eva included) will quip that chicken “is for sick people.” This always gave me the impression that Italians just don’t really like poultry.
Turns out, my interpretation of these observations were completely wrong, perhaps even backwards. Today, Eva is going to share some interesting ways Italians DO cook chicken, and explain why it’s not quite a daily staple in Italian cuisine.
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“Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food” by John Dickie (affiliate) – https://amzn.to/3EaxOEP
POLLO AI PEPERONI RECIPE – https://www.pastagrammar.com/post/pollo-ai-peperoni-roman-chicken-peppers-recipe
POLLO AL SALE RECIPE – https://www.pastagrammar.com/post/pollo-al-sale-salt-baked-chicken-recipe
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#chicken #italianfood #recipe
41 Comments
REUPLOAD! The first video was accidentally deleted, hence the reupload 😅 We were still reading all of your lovely comments when we lost it, so please drop one below!
Can we see dishes based on quattro formaggi soon? Eg pasta and pizza
Also not sure if authentic or not but heard there is also risotto Quattro formaggi?
Just curious then, why then is beef more common in the Italian diet, considering that it provides not only meat, but dairy products. I suspect the same could be said for lamb, and to a lesser degree goat, though I imagine that varies by region.
Historically the United States was the same—chicken was cooked only when they stopped laying or got old. If I remember correctly chicken didn’t really become super common in the American diet until after WWII.
gli Italiani preferiscono cibi saporiti, il pollo ha poco sapore e semplicemente viene usato poco, se poi considerate che i polli oggi vengono allevati in grandi allevamenti e la loro carne è priva di consistenza mi pare che ce ne sia abbastanza per dire che abbiamo cibi migliori del pollo.
al massimo possiamo orientarci verso altri tipi di volatili tipo faraona o meglio ancora la caccia…. (fagiani…)
Anche il tacchino è un animale che gli italiani mangiano poco.
Gli americani se ne facciano una ragione, gli italiani non amano le carni bianche
Dimenticavo: tutti gli anni mi faccio allevare un cappone (gallo castrato) da un contadino che conosco e il giorno di Natale, dalle mie parti si mangiano i tortellini, (sono bolognese), che il disciplinare vuole esclusivamente in brodo.
brodo di carne di manzo e di cappone e non deve mancare l'osso, ovviamente non il cappone intero ne basta un pezzo.
la carne bollita viene presentata a parte ancora fumante, è ottimo il bollito misto, ma se ne rimane un po' state sicuri che si tratta del pollo
Eat more chicken 🐔 – wisdom from 🐮
the music tracks you put in the videos are mind blowing 😂
In Italian history there have always been rich and poor, not just the poor. Being a land rich in good food products, we have always had a wide choice of foods. For wealthy Italians, let's say that chicken has never been a delicacy and is not even considered one by the middle class. It remains a decent food.
Pollo ai peperoni has a striking resemblance to poulet basquaise 😜
To me Pollo Arrosto con patatine is the best… but also Pollo in umido with mashrooms… my mom was used to cook both of them and I ate the chicken skjn as well…
Sabato è brodo, punto. ❤
Love your videos!
Growing up in an Italian-American household we never put stewed chicken pieces in the soup, only tiny pasta with broth. My mother would then shred the chicken and serve a second course by making a spicy tomato based sauce which we would eat with Italian bread followed by a refreshing salad. So good.
Chicken ginger soup.
2 – white onions.
1 – whole chicken.
1 -stalk of bok choy.
1lb – fresh ginger root.
1/2 cup – fresh parsley.
1/2 cup – olive oil.
– salt
– pepper
Cut a whole chicken into pieces, leaving in the bones. Cut onions into wedges. Peal then julienne the ginger. Put the olive oil in the pan, turn pan on high. Put the onions, ginger and chicken into the pan, all in that order, salt and pepper to your liking. You will need some muscle for this, and a big wooden spoon. Stir all those ingredients together so the flavors mix, until your onions are almost golden colored, and your chicken is fairly cooked, if you feel you need more oil, then add more. Next, add the water, bring to boil on high temperature. After the soup has boiled for 45 minutes, turn it down to just below medium, then Mince the fresh parsley and toss it into the soup. After about 30 more minutes, turn the soup down to just a little above simmer. Simmer for 4 hours, cut the bok choy into bite size pieces, toss into soup; then turn the soup up to boil again for about 20 minutes. While this is all going on, you will have already cooked your Jasmine rice. The real Asian Jasmine, not the US grown, because US is not as tasty due to the short growing season. Your soup is now done. Put soup in bowl, and then spoon as much rice into your bowl as you like. Don't be shy about eating the chicken off the bones with your fingers. Makes a really good winter soup, and ginger is very good for you, as well as the bone marrow.
…….but if you don't crack the egg, it makes another chicken?
pastina is good in Italian wedding soup my one my favorite soups
The salt does absorb the water out of the chicken but then some of the salt dissolves back into the water and then the salty briney liquid gets absorbed back into the meat seasoning it perfectly.
Eva, why is salt expensive in USA? Didn't they make it in the ocean? (California, Florida…)
Also: that chicken was a GIANT one! Is it the regular size of chickens in the USA?
It feels wrong to throw away so much salt for just one dish… But absolutely worth it. I think I can explain the "science" of this cooking method in "salt dough". The secret is in the egg-salt mixture and the EXTERNAL crust created by the heat of the oven. Very soon after the chicken Is in the oven, this external crust effectively BLOCKS any moisture from coming out (or going in, for that matter). The proteins of the egg deform and expand and become like glue. Now if you ever cooked a complete chicken in a pot, without extra water, you would know it sheds a LOT of liquid. We usually use this liquid to create stock or as base for sauce, or as the cooking liquid of the chicken and vegetables. But here – it DOES get absorbed into the salt. But the salt has LIMITED capacity for water, and it can't evaporate anything to the outside – because of the crust, and you get the perfect balance. SOME liquid is caught in the salt dough, and some remains safely in your chicken.
I think you can weigh the salt-egg-whites-dough before and after the cooking and see exactly how much water it took from the chicken. May be Interesting. The technique is simple and beautiful, the result – while not very representative, is amazingly good. Tender, juicy, emphasizes the natural flavor of chicken. Really good.
BTW – chicken was considered expensive and luxury throughout Europe – not just Italia, and actually in other areas as well. The industrialized growing of huge numbers of chicken — was NOT POSSIBLE for many centuries. Chicken kill each other if they're packed too crowded, and the "White American Hen" that is used in such huge quantities in the U.S. were actually developed there. Also, the industrialized growing of chicken so they become edible early, and so – cheaply – took many decades to develop.
The down side: These chicken tased really dull when compared toe rustic old-style European/Mediterranean chicken.
I remember when a pigeon landed on the front porch and my grandmother was there she caught it and it ended up in the pot with the spaghetti sauce, she came to the USA from Sicily with my grandfather and my farther. We ate a lot of Chicken, I used to think it was expensive because when we had it i was on a Sunday a day we usually had Spaghetti.
This video was worth the chicken song Alone
My brother in law is italian. And when he was in our country he was delighted that chicken was such a common dish. Because after the bird flu the consumption of chicken had decreased hugely..
Up until relatively recently chickens even in the US were highly valued for their eggs. That’s why many old recipes called for stewing hens. .Stewing hens are also used in many ramen recipes. Even the one Asian market in my small city has stewing hen.
Bro you look exactly like drew Gooden
Well done and explained! I come from Emilia, and I can tell you that "pollo ripieno" ( stuffed chicken, which I still cook in wintertime), slowly cooked in its broth, was a much cherished Sunday dish in the Sixties for a lot of people .Pastina in brodo is my comfort food since my childhood, but when I was dating my Neapolitan husband, I asked him if he felt like having a pastina and he replied" Why? I'm feeling perfectly fine!" 😂That's when I discovered that a gigantic portion of my Country considered all liquid minestre, pastine and veggie soups to be a sick person treat! As kids, whenever sick, we would have riso in brodo with spinach and a loooot of Parmesan. 😉
How do you think this would work for a thanksgiving turkey? A “Turkey Al Sale” if you will 🤔
Harper and Eva i was just wondering if Chicken Scarpariello is something that is eaten in some restuarants. I juat made some the other night
Thank you for the chicken recipes, Eva. Like Harper we eat a lot of chicken because we like it. I was getting bored with the standard broiled chicken with varied spices, cut it up into sauces or rices, tonight I'm eating it cut up into arroz amarilla with tomatoes, pink beans, peas & carrots.
I definitely want to try the pollo ai peproni.
I would like to see a video of eggplant. I love it but can not chew or digest the peeling. Why does everyone leave the peel on?
The reason probably Italians don't mix pasta and meat, is, they did not have good refrigeration methods in the past. So pasta would store longer WITHOUT meat in it. And then became confused after time with a good taste choice.
Chickens are filthy animals – they eat their own shit – when you cook them they smell of the chicken shit that they eat on a daily basis – they are filthy – the most filthy animal on the planet, but…
raised, cleaned, and cooked properly they are very good – better to have rabbit or lamb or beef, but clean chicken is very good
Could we bake the chicken in dough to insulate it?
I heard about chicken parmesan and chicken cacciatore when I was a kid. Don't Italians eat them any more?
I have a suggestion. Can you provide English subtitles. I think I could understand your lovely wife better if she spoke Italian to us…and I don't even speak Italian. 😵💫
Eva, I always enjoy your cooking and recipes, but this time, I just want to say, the color of your hair is so warm and beautiful!!! It complements you well. 🥰🥰🥰
Eva always surprises! Will she consider straightening her hair? ☺️
I chew broth. My mother would laugh at me. I chew my broth with pride. Nom nom nom
I've seen whole fish encrusted in salt…never chicken to weird must be her family only recipe.
Very similar to a dish called "Poulet Basquaise" from south west France, next to spain.