The chicken has been the most common type of poultry in the world since the dawn of time. If we get to more specific examples, one can find out that hen or rooster as a meat has been depicted in Babylonian carvings from around 600 BC.[2] Broiler was one of the most common meats available in the Middle Ages. It was popular 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. Drawing a look towards post-Soviet customs, the idea was simple, yet delicious: Get the chicken, fry or bake, get a crisp - it was all not easy, but fascinating. Each housewife had her own secret recipe for chicken baking. And although there are a lot of products now, we can buy a gigot, a suckling pig, and anything else for a dinner party. All the same the chicken remains one of the most popular dishes.

The way how to choose chicken meat.

Chicken meat should be chosen after the decision is made, what dish to cook. If you plan to bake or fry the whole carcass, it is better to buy a broiler chicken. Its weight should not exceed 1.5 kg. The older the bird, the richer will be a broth. Unnaturally large shins, protruding breast - clear evidence that the hen was stuffed with hormones. Buying a chicken by weight, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the proposed pieces. No surface defects on the pieces should be: no blood clots under the skin; hematoma; torn peel. After pressing on the meat, it should restore the shape within 3-8 seconds. If chicken does not spring, it's old. The color of meat is also important. Young chickens possess a light pink shade, the fat is almost transparent, pale yellow, on the peel of the feet the flakes are light and small. The skin of the adult hen is yellowish, the scales on the paws are dense, ocher-colored, the meat is dense, also light-pink, but with a grayish tint. Slippery surface of carcass or chicken leg may be if chicken is stale or the bird was ill during life and it was treated with antibiotics. When buying a bird, preference should be given to chilled chicken. If the choice is made correctly, then you’ll get the meal "to die for". We collected the most interesting recipe descriptions from chicken meat, both very simple in execution, and more difficult.

Chicken tabaka

It all started in sunny Georgia. It is here that for several centuries a dish from chicken has been prepared in a special way: spices, herbs - everything is as it should be. But the main thing in technology of preparation is a frying pan on which a carcass is fried. In Georgian it is called “tapa”, so the ready dish was called “tapaka”, hence we can see the origin of the dish name. There are several options for cooking chicken tabaka - it all depends on the region of Georgia where the recipe comes from. There is a so-called classic option: in addition to the chicken and the specific frying pan, the stuffy garlic and a large number of herbs go into action: coriander, basil, tarragon, leek and green onions are used. And, of course, according to the ancient Georgian tradition, there is a lot of salt and pepper. By the way, the neighbors of Georgians in Transcaucasia, Armenians, believe that the chicken of tabaka first appeared on their land. In Armenian, “tapak” is flat, pressed, flattened. Actually, it is in this form that the Georgian chicken is served. The Georgians themselves believe that the Armenian evidence is clearly not enough and are sure that the chicken of tabaka is their folk invention.

Grilled chicken with garlic and thyme

The chicken and grill are literally made for each other. Juicy meat, sprinkled with spices, and a crispy golden skin - like everything else that is cooked in the open air, it's simple, but very tasty food. Of course, the same chicken can be done at home, in a pan-grill, because here the main thing is not a recipe, but technology. But in the open air, under the open sky, these chickens will still turn out tastier: one more rule that we should remember about throughout our short-lived but glorious and warm summer. Perhaps the secret of a delicious chicken will always be a crispy, ruddy, evenly roasted crust and tender poultry meat and if the second depends on the degree of freshness of the product, then the chef's skills and attention affect the first. Therefore, like any other art, the whole secret of cooking lies in practice and attention to detail.