On the third day of Christmas

my true love gave to me,

three French hens















#1. It's impossible to get the legendary Poulet de Bresse in North America, but we can come close with the Blue Foot Chicken. Though it's better if you don't mind when the butcher hands over a defeathered chicken with the feet and head still attached, French style.

#2. Finding French chicks, however, is easier. You can get old French breeds, such as the Crèvecoeur; Faverolle (see illustration above, a lithograph by Harrison William Weir from The Poultry Book by W.B. Tegetmeier, London, 1902); Houdan; and the very rare La Flèche, as day-old chicks.

#3. Make any chicken tastier by cooking it à la Française. Clotilde Dusoulier chez Chocolate & Zucchini has a wonderful recipe for Le Poulet de Muriel.

Bon appétit!