The British believe that Chicken Masala Curry is an authentic British national dish, the Chinese praise Kung Pao Chicken, the French admire the classic French chicken stew, and Americans regard chicken soup as a delicious food. Food to remember. Chicken is one of the most ubiquitous foods of our time, a tender and delicious ingredient that has crossed cultural boundaries and found its way into kitchens around the world. So when famed motivational guru Jack Canfield was looking for the right title for his best-selling psychology book, he thought of Chicken Soup for the Soul, not Clam Chowder for the Soul.
But how did chicken conquer the world?
In 2004, Chinese scientists and international geneticists jointly drew a complete map of the chicken genetic structure, proving that chickens have 60% of their genes. It is the same as humans and has the same ancestors as humans 310 million years ago. As the first domestic animal in the world to complete genetic sequencing, the chicken's genetic map provides crucial research value for human evolution.
Modern DNA research has confirmed that the red jungle fowl is the direct ancestor of the domestic chicken. The red jungle fowl was originally mainly distributed in southern China and northern India. With thousands of years of cultural exchanges, commercial trade, and migration and conquest by humans, , domesticated chickens spread from the jungles of Asia to around the world. Historical data proves that domestic chickens in China spread northward to Japan through the Korean Peninsula, and the Indus Valley was the starting point for the spread of domestic chickens westward. More than 4,000 years ago, the city-states of the Harappan civilization had frequent trade exchanges with the Middle East. The unearthed cultural relics and chicken bone fossils excavated by archaeologists indicate that domestic chickens may have reached the Peninsula from Rotar, a port on the west coast of ancient India, by land. Through Persia it spread to Greece, Syria and Babylon.
On the coast of the Mediterranean, archaeologists unearthed chicken bone fossils from around 800 BC. After the introduction of domestic chicken from India, chicken became a common food for the ancient Romans. The chicken-loving Romans invented all kinds of delicious dishes, like omelets and stuffed roast chicken. In the pursuit of luxurious food, Roman farmers came up with ways to fatten their chickens. Some people fed chickens with wheat bread soaked in red wine, and some mixed cumin, barley and lizard fat as feed. According to historical records, in the 1st century BC, the ancient Roman Priest College held a sumptuous dinner for a priest, and the main dish of fried fat hen in puff pastry was on the table.
In 161 BC, due to concerns about the decline of social morality and people's excessive pursuit of luxury, the Roman Empire issued a decree to limit the number of chickens that people could eat per meal, stipulating that each dining table could only have a maximum of Serve up a chicken—and a chicken that hasn’t been overraised. Soon, Roman chefs discovered that uncooked roosters can easily grow meat, so the capon was born.
Kevin Macdonald, a professor of archeology at the University of London, said that after the collapse of the Roman Empire, "chickens returned to the size of the Iron Age". He speculates that large, well-equipped chicken farms were set up to raise chickens during the Roman period and then gradually disappeared. The status of chickens in Europe deteriorated and was gradually replaced by poultry such as geese and partridges.
By the Middle Ages, Europeans’ diet was still dominated by cereals such as bread. As an important source of animal protein, chicken, pork and dairy products were expensive and mainly enjoyed by the rich. According to the British writer Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", poor farmers usually eat black bread and occasionally one or two eggs. The lack of protein food can be imagined.
However, with the improvement of agricultural productivity, the dietary structure of Europeans has changed, and more and more poultry and eggs are on the table. As the most commonly eaten poultry, chicken once again became a delicacy among the upper classes, appearing in grand and luxurious banquets. At that time, European food culture believed that mild-tasting chicken was easy to digest, while fat and tender capons were regarded as luxury goods that only the rich could afford. In "The Decameron" by Italian writer Boccaccio, capons are the main dish entertained by wealthy businessmen, a panacea for patients to recover from health, and a valuable gift from farm owners to reward friends.
In France in the 16th century, King Henry IV said this famous saying when he was debating with the Duke of Savoy, "I wish that all farmers could have at least a pot of chicken stew every weekend. "Having chicken on the table has been elevated to the level of people's livelihood.
In the late reign of Henry IV, the French monarchy was consolidated and the economy gradually recovered, and the French formed the tradition of eating chicken on Sunday.
From then on, chicken stew became the main dish for Sunday dinners and holiday celebrations in French families. The French also breed the best chicken in the world - the Bresse chicken. This kind of chicken is produced in the Bresse region in eastern France. It has a delicious, tender taste and excellent quality. It is regarded as a gastronomic miracle. Although it is expensive, it is still favored by high-end chefs and gourmets.
>>>>Large-scale breeding
In the 16th century AD, cockfighting flourished in England. King Henry VIII was keen to hold cockfights at Whitehall Palace, making this game popular. British national movement. In 1849, Queen Victoria issued a royal decree banning cockfighting. After the cockfighting craze, raising chickens became a popular hobby in the UK. In 1849, the Birmingham Exhibition was held in central England. Cochin chickens from China stole the show. This fine breed of rare birds was huge in size and covered with fluffy feathers. It quickly caused a sensation in the UK and made people enthusiastic about poultry. Crazy high.
In the late 19th century, this poultry craze crossed the Atlantic and swept the East Coast of the United States. Raising chickens became a growing hobby among Americans. In 1873, the American Poultry Association established standards to help farmers selectively raise chickens. Breeding purebred chickens. In 1880, when the U.S. census first counted the number of chickens, there were 102 million chickens in the United States, which quickly increased to 258 million by 1890. In 1891, Cornell University became the first agricultural university to offer a poultry breeding course, and chicken farming began its century-long journey from a sideline business on family farms to large-scale industrial breeding.
In the early 20th century, chickens still occupied a relatively minor role in American eating habits and the economy. After cattle and pigs entered the industrial era marked by mechanized slaughterhouses, chickens were still in the free-range and small-scale breeding stage. In the mid-1920s, the emergence of feed supplemented with antibiotics and vitamins brought a major breakthrough to the industry, and large-scale farms raising 250,000 chickens followed. In this new agricultural field, vitamin D has become an important factor affecting the price of chicken. Scientists have discovered that a lack of vitamin D can cause metabolic disorders and rickets. Chickens, like people, need to be exposed to the sun to synthesize vitamin D to maintain bone health. However, raising chickens outdoors faces uncertainties such as weather and disease. So people added cod liver oil to chicken feed, built large sheds, and controlled temperature, feed, and lighting to increase the weight of the chickens.
How Chicken Conquered the World During the 1928 presidential election, Republican candidate Hoover promised the American people in his campaign speech that if he was elected president, Americans would forever defeat poverty, " There’s a chicken in every pot.” Of course, President Hoover did not fulfill this promise. The ensuing Great Depression forced millions of small farms to close their doors. In order to alleviate the economic crisis, in April 1933, the U.S. Congress passed the Agricultural Mortgage Act, which approved loans to poultry farms. Short-term loans facilitated farmers to specialize in chicken and egg production, greatly increasing egg production. Some farmers began to specialize in modern egg farms, which greatly increased egg production. Betty MacDonald’s classic memoir Eggs and Me and its film adaptation of the same name illustrate this subtle economic shift, proving that all artistic creation comes from life.
During World War II, demand for chicken increased as a source of protein due to a shortage of beef and pork, making it the main meat consumed. After the war, the chicken farming industry in the United States shifted from north to south. The southern part has good natural conditions, a mild and suitable climate, and convenient grain transportation, making the price of chicken even lower. Modern chickens are cheaper to produce when it comes to efficiently converting grain into protein. Live chickens require less than two pounds of feed for every pound of weight they gain, less than half what they did in 1945. By comparison, it takes 7 pounds of feed to produce one pound of beef and more than three pounds of feed to produce one pound of pork.
People have improved the profits of raising chickens through genetics and automation. The most advanced chicken coops are currently as large as two football fields. They automatically add food and water every hour. The bottom of the chicken coop is slightly tilted, and the eggs produced Rolls down onto a conveyor belt for automatic cleaning, grading and packaging. Today's consumers are able to buy fresh chicken at low prices, which is undoubtedly a huge change, thanks to the amazing advancements in technology and markets that have been made in different eras.
With its tender and delicious taste, chicken is popular around the world and has become a source of inspiration for people to show off their cooking skills.
Chicken is cooked in many different ways around the world, creating many unique dishes, such as traditional Chinese chicken consommé, Japanese-style chicken teriyaki, and chicken pasta topped with pesto. After the chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices, grilled on a spit, and poured with curry gravy, it is the authentic British national dish - Chicken Masala Curry.
Today, the number of chickens on the earth has far exceeded that of humans, almost three times as many as humans. Chickens from all over the world have told us epic stories of culture, religion and cuisine, providing us with delicious omelets, chicken casseroles, braised chicken, fried chicken nuggets and chicken liver pate, while also providing us with a The answer to an interesting question: Based on evolutionary history, scientists speculate that herbivorous dinosaurs generally ate horsetails and ferns. Their meat would be more like poultry than steak or pork chops, and its flavor should be closer to birds—— Eagle or chicken. So when children come to the Museum of Natural History for the first time and ask their parents, “What did dinosaur meat taste like,” parents can now respond, “What does chicken taste like?”