Chicken consumption in the US is staggering. Roughly 175 million chickens are processed every week and 50 billion pounds are consumed every year in the US alone. America's appetite for chicken is insatiable and in order to meet market demands, the poultry industry has engineered a modern-day Frankenchicken; the Cornish Cross. A biologically engineered super chicken-meat-maker, the Cornish Cross grows from hatch to a market-ready slaughter size in just forty days. Whether sustainably raised on open pasture and fed an all-organic, non-GMO diet, or crammed into a giant industrial building where they are fed, watered, vacuumed and butchered by machines, the chicken consumed in America, from drive-thrus to fine dining, is the same Cornish Cross.
Poulet Bleu is different. It is not a Cornish Cross and is distinctly different.
Poulet Bleu is an entirely unique breed. They are slow-growing and require roughly 100-110 days to naturally mature to a market-ready weight. The longer grow-time allows Poulet Bleu to develop deeper, more complex musculature, resulting in a robustly flavorful flesh and distinct meaty texture. Beyond their distinct genetics, the husbandry of Poulet Bleu is storybook-like, it is hands-on, humane, sustainable and natural. We have partnered with a community of Amish family-farmers who raise our chickens in small family-sized poultry houses, entirely by hand, without the use of electricity or machinery; free from exhaust, fumes and the constant blinking and buzzing of modernity. Indeed, during the winter months our Poulet Bleu are kept warm by firewood. Moreover, Poulet Bleu are fed an incredibly rich, proprietary three-step diet formulated to approach the centuries-old French techniques necessary to develop sufficient fat content to balance their mature flesh. Our proprietary finish feed includes milk whey, peas, flax and canola oil. Finally all Poulet Bleu processed by hand at a Mennonite owned and operated USDA facility, where the birds are 100% air chilled and processed whole with head on and feet intanct.
Together, the unique genetics, the impeccable handling and the pristine processing of the Poulet Bleu, all result in a singular cooking and eating experience. Poulet Bleu is a unique, A.O.C. quality, premium poultry product finally available in North America. Poulet Bleu presents today’s chefs with a rare, fresh-opportunity to work with a ‘new’ classic ingredient, to discover and master techniques, classic and modern, to create dishes, classic and modern, to provide their guests with the rare opportunity taste and experience a unique and timeless delicacy.
French Exclusivity
In 1825, the 19th century epicure and gastronome Jean Antheime Brillat-Savarin (perhaps history's first and greatest foodie), in his most famous work, The Physiology of Taste, described the poulet de Bresse as the “the queen of chickens and the chicken of kings." So revered by the French, in 1957 the poulet de Bresse became the first livestock to be granted legal protection by the French government by way of its appellation d'origine controlée or A.O.C. status. To this day, only two livestock have been granted A.O.C. status by the French government. In order to protect and preserve the poulet de Bresse, it is illegal to remove live birds and even eggs from France. Roughly 95% of all poulet de Bresse are consumed in France making it nearly impossible for chefs and gourmands around the world to experience and enjoy this delicacy outside of France.
Enter Poulet Bleu
Poulet Bleu made its entrance into the North American culinary world in the early 2000’s, eventually making its way to New York City. A 2005 New York Magazine article (written just before the 2006 H5N1 epidemic that decimated the continent’s poultry stocks) had this to say about Poulet Bleu’s introduction into New York City’s elite restaurants:
If you’ve perused a fancy menu lately, you might pity the plight of the poor chicken. Every other protein, it seems, has been sanctified and name-branded, from Wagyu beef and Copper River salmon to the not-so-humble Berkshire pork. With the rare pedigree exception—a Giannone here, a Cloonshee there—the best a menu writer has been able to muster about chicken was that it was—yawn—free-range.
… Chicken’s place in the epicurean pecking order is about to change. A new boutique bird has been clawing its way onto some of the ritziest menus recently, from Per Se to Alain Ducasse, where it's roasted whole, wheeled into the dining room, and displayed like a trophy before it's carved and anoited with jus. The Blue Foot, or Poulet Bleu as it's sometimes called, is a homegrown version of France's mythical poulet de Bresse.
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… Like its French counterpart, the Blue Foot has a red comb, white feathers, and steel-blue feet—a characteristic so prized that they’re usually left on for tableside presentation. It’s slaughtered later than mass-market birds, and then air-chilled, two factors that contribute to a firmer texture and a slightly gamy flavor. It might be the closest we’ve come to le vrai Bresse—“just as good,” Ducasse’s French-born Tony Esnault diplomatically declares.”
Poulet Bleu is the world’s only breeder and grower of these incredible birds.