2 ms·

Yeah, I think it really depends on the place. One of my favorite meals at a fairly expensive (but definitely not Michelin-level) restaurant was a roast chicken

Yeah, I think it really depends on the place. One of my favorite meals at a fairly expensive (but definitely not Michelin-level) restaurant was a roast chicken. I got it reluctantly, why should I spend this much on roast chicken? But there wasn't anything else on the limited menu I wanted, of choice of like three mains. It was the best roast chicken I've ever had, like notably. I still have no idea how you make roast chicken taste that good. I still remember it, honestly in part because of the surprise. There are also other places where I've had delicious things I've never seen anywhere else, sure.

spoonjim 5y ago
Most of creating a roast chicken that good is in sourcing the chicken. Breeds optimized for flavor rather than economics, fed a chicken’s natural diet, grown at the chicken’s natural pace, and handled carefully, slaughtered shortly before cooking. There is technique like injecting the brine and managing the smoke flavors but that’s like 10% of the work of raising the chicken.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  I've raised multiple egg-laying flocks before but held off from meat birds because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of plucking. Thinking it might be worth raising a few on pasture just to check the difference in taste. Maybe this'll be the year!
HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
I had a similar experience in, of all places, on the road (there's only one!) to Denali, in Alaska years ago. My wife started feeling ill and there was nothing nearby but we remembered passing a motel about 30 miles back and Denali was at least another 90 minutes away. We went in to get a room for the night and I'm not exaggerating when I say that the place would probably be condemned if it were anywhere else. The price of the room was insane, but it was the only hotel in at least 50 miles so it was either that or sleep in the car. The only thing I remember specifically from dinner was a smoked chicken and root beer. I love root beer and the menu claimed it was made by a local about 10 miles away. The quality of the food was incredible. Yeah, I've never paid $30 for half a chicken before or since, but it was the best chicken I've ever had. So was the root beer and whatever else we had for dinner. Everything they put on that table was absolutely delicious. And this at a tiny roadside motel where we were apparently the only guests. Wish I could remember the name of that place.

spoonjim 5y ago

Most of creating a roast chicken that good is in sourcing the chicken. Breeds optimized for flavor rather than economics, fed a chicken’s natural diet, grown at the chicken’s natural pace, and handled carefully, slaughtered shortly before cooking. There is technique like injecting the brine and managing the smoke flavors but that’s like 10% of the work of raising the chicken.

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
I've raised multiple egg-laying flocks before but held off from meat birds because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of plucking. Thinking it might be worth raising a few on pasture just to check the difference in taste. Maybe this'll be the year!

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago

I had a similar experience in, of all places, on the road (there's only one!) to Denali, in Alaska years ago. My wife started feeling ill and there was nothing nearby but we remembered passing a motel about 30 miles back and Denali was at least another 90 minutes away. We went in to get a room for the night and I'm not exaggerating when I say that the place would probably be condemned if it were anywhere else. The price of the room was insane, but it was the only hotel in at least 50 miles so it was either that or sleep in the car. The only thing I remember specifically from dinner was a smoked chicken and root beer. I love root beer and the menu claimed it was made by a local about 10 miles away. The quality of the food was incredible. Yeah, I've never paid $30 for half a chicken before or since, but it was the best chicken I've ever had. So was the root beer and whatever else we had for dinner. Everything they put on that table was absolutely delicious. And this at a tiny roadside motel where we were apparently the only guests. Wish I could remember the name of that place.