On 3-Jan-2005, "Donna" <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Is it just me, or does chicken today really not taste as good as it did,
> say, 30 years ago?
>
> Donna
Better is very subjective, but chicken certainly tastes different than it
did 30 years ago; as does, bologna, breakfast sausage etc.
30 years ago their was much more variety; meat generally came from regional
processors who had their own way of doing things. Chickens were of a wider
variety, such as plymouth rock, rhode island red, etc - where you were
raised determined your tastes. Now, everything has been "standardized", you
get the same chicken regardless of where you are; a Tyson chicken is a Tyson
chicken and since it is a big production operation, the chickens are bred
for the big processors - whether its Tyson or whatever, its pretty much the
same bird, raised the same way on the same feed. My grandmother raised her
own, mostly rhode island reds, and nothing today can touch her birds for
flavor. Of course, it could have been the seasonings, or the cooking in/on
a coal-fired stove or maybe just my fond memories of granny make the memory
better than the reality.
However, if you want "better" tasting chicken, try finding a small operation
that hasn't bred all the variation out; you'll find only bland, processor
chickens at most supermarkets. Perhaps you have local farmers who sell
free-range chickens that will be closer to what you had in the past. Or,
you might try Whole Foods if there is one in your area. Regardless, look
for a small operation to get tastier foods; to sell in supermarkets the
flavor has to appeal to a very broad range of tastes.
Good luck finding a chicken you like; I'm still looking for bologna even
remotely close to the great stuff I had as a kid in western Kentucky; franks
too.
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