Poularde is culinary term for a

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

that is at least 120 days old at the time of slaughter and fattened with a rich diet that delays

egg production Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. In the past it was common to spay the chickens early in life to ensure desirable meat quality, similar to the castration of a

capon A capon (from la, cāpō, genitive ''cāpōnis'') is a cockerel (rooster) that has been castrated or neutered, either physically or chemically, to improve the quality of its flesh for food, and, in some countries like Spain, fattened by force ...

. Similar terms are often confused: in English, pullet refers to a young hen, generally under one year old. Sometimes it is more specific, indicating a hen that is fully grown but has not reached ‘point-of-lay’, i.e. has not yet started laying eggs, which often happens between 16 and 24 weeks of age, depending on breed. Poulard (no 'e') can be used to mean "roaster", i.e. a young chicken weighing up to 6-7 pounds and living 10-12 weeks, as opposed to smaller "broiler" chickens weighing less than 3 pounds. In French, poussin is a newly hatched chick (either sex), poulet is a young chick (either sex), poulette is a female young chicken (one form of a poulet, and corresponding to the male coquelet), poularde is a poulette deliberately fattened for eating (often spayed, and the equivalent of the castrated male chapon = capon), and a poule is an egg-laying hen (corresponding to the coq = cockerel). Poularde is used in English in the context of cooking (as opposed to poultry farming);

Larousse Gastronomique ' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...

lists around 98 recipes for "Poulardes et poulets" with a ''further'' 100 or more for "Farm-raised chickens". In France many varieties of poularde exist, including the Poularde de Bresse, the Poularde du Mans and the Poularde de Loué, which are generally protected by the

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

Label Rouge Label Rouge (''Red Label'') is a sign of quality assurance in France as defined by Law No. 2006-11 (5 January 2006). Products eligible for the Label Rouge are food items (including seafood) and non-food and unprocessed agricultural products such ...

certifications.. The high price of these chickens meant that they were traditionally reserved for holiday meals, such as

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

feasts. Examples of protected certifications outside France include the Poularde de Bruxelles from Belgium, the Steierische Poularde from Austria, and the Poularde Den Dungen from the Netherlands.

References

Chicken as food Poultry farming Veterinary castration {{poultry-stub

See also

References