Poulet de Bresse area of production on France relief location map

The () or volaille de Bresse is a French

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 adu ...

product which has ''

appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...

'' status, and which was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin under EU and UK law as ''Volaille de Bresse / Poulet de Bresse / Poularde de Bresse / Chapon de Bresse''. It may be produced only from white chickens of the Bresse Gauloise breed raised within a legallydefined area of the historic region and former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whi ...

, in eastern France.

History

The chickens of the Bresse region have long enjoyed a high reputation. The lawyer, politician,

epicure Epicureanism is a system of philosophy developed by Epicurus ca. 300 BCE. Epicurean or epicure may also refer to: *Epicure (gourmet), a person interested in food, sometimes with overtones of excessive refinement *'' The Epicurean'', 1827 novel w ...

and

gastronome Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gast ...

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (; 1 April 1755, Belley, Ain – 2 February 1826, Paris) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of ''The Physiology of Taste'' (''Physiologie du Goût''), gained fame as an epicure and gastronome: ...

(1755–1826), who was born at

Belley Belley () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. History Belley is of Roman origin, and in the 5th century became an episcopal see. It was the capital of the province of Bugey, which was a dependency of Savoy till 1601, whe ...

in the Ain, is supposed to have described the Bresse chicken as "the queen of poultry, the poultry of kings". The name Volaille de Bresse, used for both chicken products and for the dinde de Bresse, the

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

of the area, received legal protection on 22 December 1936; this became an ''

'' (AOC) in 1957. Today the poulet de Bresse has the reputation of being the best quality table chicken in the world. The chef Georges Blanc, who is from Bourg-en-Bresse, has been president of the Comité Interprofessionnel de la Volaille de Bresse, the association which oversees the product, since 1986. Alan Davidson described the poulet de Bresse as the "aristocrat of modern table poultry", and

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...

selected it for one of the dishes in his book ''In Search of Perfection''.

Production

Poulet de Bresse may be produced only from white chickens (the Bresse de Bény variety) of the

breed, raised within a legally defined area of the historic region and former

, in eastern France. The area is roughly rectangular, approximately by , and includes parts of the

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

, Jura and Saône-et-Loire, in the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

, Franche-Comté and Bourgogne respectively. It lies mainly between the towns of

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

, Chalon-sur-Saône,

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

and Lons-le-Saunier;

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient province of Bresse ( frp, Brêsse, links=no). In 2018, ...

is within the area.

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

is not far to the south, and

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

not far to the north. Approximately 1.2 million poulet de Bresse birds are produced each year, about 0.1% of the total annual production of chickens in France; about 10% are exported. The chickens are raised under strict controls. There are about 200 breeders; each must have a minimum of 0.5 ha of pasture in the area of production, and allow a minimum of 10 m² per bird. Each bird must pass inspection by the Centre de Sélection de la Volaille de Bresse, the only breeding centre for the Bresse chicken. The birds are kept free range for at least four months. From about 35 days they are fed cereals and dairy products; the diet is intentionally kept low in protein so that the birds will forage for insects. They are then "finished" in an épinette, a cage in a darkened fattening shed, where they are intensively fed on maize and milk. ''Poulets'' or

pullet 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 adul ...

s are fattened for two weeks, and slaughtered at a minimum age of four months and a minimum weight of ; '' poulardes'' or large hens are fattened for four weeks and slaughtered at five months, when they weigh at least ; ''chapons'' or

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 for ...

s are also fattened for four weeks, and are slaughtered at eight months or more, at a minimum weight of . The birds are marketed with the head and characteristic slate-blue legs, traditionally a sign of authenticity. The left leg carries a metal leg-ring with the name of the producer. Poulet de Bresse commands premium prices. In 2002 producers of poulet de Bresse received an average of €4.00 per kg (whole chicken, ready to cook); comparable prices received by producers of organic and standard chickens were €2.70 and €1.60 respectively. Retail prices are much higher; a price of £19.50 per kg was reported from London in 2011.

References

{{reflist, refs= E. Verrier, M. Tixier-Boichard, R. Bernigaud, M. Naves (2005)
Conservation and value of local livestock breeds: usefulness of niche products and/or adaptation to specific environments
''Animal Genetic Resources Information'' 36 (April 2005): 21-31. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{doi, 10.1017/S1014233900005538 Press release for ''La vie en blanc'', by Georges Blanc (2008)
Saint-Julien-sur-Veyle: GSL éditions. Accessed October 2014. Alan Davidson (1999). ''The Oxford Companion to Food''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN, 9780192115799. {{nobreak, p. 378. Dirk de Jong (2007)
De Bresse-Gauloise: Ruim 400 jaar oud en nog springlevend = Bresse-Gauloise: More than 400 years old, and still fresh and lively
''Aviculture-Europe'' 3 (2): npaginated, 9 pages Rien T. Fertel (2007)
Review of ''Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics'' by Heston Blumenthal
''Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies'' 7 (4): 100. {{doi, 10.1525/gfc.2007.7.4.100 {{subscription required Jon Henley (10 January 2008)
Top of the pecking order
''The Guardian''. Accessed October 2014. Christopher Hirst (19 March 2011)

''The Independent''. Accessed October 2014. Victoria Roberts (2008)
''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781405156424. {{nobreak, p. 330. __NOTOC__ Chicken as food Food and drink in France Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Franche-Comté Cuisine of Lyon French products with protected designation of origin