Poultry and Game

There is an abundance of poultry in Poland. It is always sold alive. An old cook book says "Never use old poultry, for no matter how you prepare it, you can make nothing good of it. Young poultry has full thick legs. That characteristic loses itself in time. An old chicken has thin legs and a thin neck, and the skin on the drum stick is slightly blue. A good turkey you will know by its white flesh and white fat; never buy one that has long hairs in the skin and the feathers on the drumsticks of a purple color. A good goose you will know by the fullness of its wing and the tenderness of the lower part of the beak which on bending should snap easily; its fat should be white and transparent.