My December column for French Property News: Bresse Poultry

The Poultry of Kings
Approximately two weeks before Christmas, when our thoughts turn to last-minute preparations for the most important feast of the year, four towns in eastern France hold a much-anticipated beauty pageant. Not the kind with silly questions, swimsuits and sashes, but an exhibition of gourmet splendour in honour of the country’s most renowned poultry, the rustically elegant Volaille de Bresse. Referred to as “la reine des volailles et volaille des rois” (the queen of poultry and the poultry of kings) by Brillat-Savarin in his influential culinary masterpiece Physiologie du goût (1825), this noble breed has been prized for its beautifully marbled, ivory flesh since at least the 16th century. It was officially noted in Bourg-en-Bresse’s town records on 12 November 1591, when citizens gifted the Marquise of Treffort two dozen “fat poultry” as a token of appreciation for defending them against the troops of Savoie. Granted A.O.C. (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) certification in 1957, the ‘Gauloise de Bresse’ proudly wears the national colours (a bright red comb, snow-white feathers and sturdy blue claws).

Read full column, published in the December 2020 issue of French Property News here: https://pages.pagesuite.com/5/9/59267ff9-a88c-4a71-ad08-175691040450/page.pdf

Image: Alain Doire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte-Tourisme