Poultry

... poultry is for the cook what canvas is for the painter.

—Brillat-Savarin

Although in any country except our own chicken is treated as a delicacy, France’s Henri IV’s dream of “a chicken in every pot” has turned into a dreary reality. Almost no meat or fish is as cheap as chicken or, fortunately, as versatile. Even though our national craving for fried chicken is seemingly insatiable, it’s worth pointing out that chicken can be braised, broiled, spitted, skewered, roasted, poached, stewed, and smoked. The blandness of chicken makes it an excellent host to a variety of seasonings and sauces. To add to this litany of virtues, chicken (except for old stewing hens, which have gotten just about as rare as their teeth) seldom takes long to cook, a fact many cooks fail to take advantage of. One of the drawbacks to cooking chicken properly is that for the brief time you’re dealing with it, you have to pay attention–basting and turning and probing for just the right degree of doneness.