Buying Chickens in Peru
Posted on | August 31, 2010 | 3 Comments
Usually, I do my poultry shopping at the market. When purchasing at the market, I get to pick out a nice fresh chicken and the butcher cleans it and cuts it up there while I watch. He’ll cut it up however I want – quarters, eighths, even 10 pieces if I ask. Then, I just take it home and wash it, package it in plastic bags and stick it in the freezer.
One thing different in Peru, as I’ve mentioned, is that when you buy your chickens they include the feet and head with your purchase. I usually tell the butcher to keep the head, but I use the feet in soup. The cartilage in them gives chicken soup a really nice texture.
However, sometimes I can’t make it to the market and I buy my chicken at the grocery store instead. It’s more expensive per pound/kilo, and the chickens are usually smaller. There are usually two choices – a whole, cleaned chicken which is similar to a chicken in a US market, or what they call a ‘market chicken’. Market chickens are plucked and have the head and feet cut off, but the innards are not cleaned out. I’ve gotten pretty good at reaching in there and grabbing all the guts and cleaning them out. (to be clear, they’re partially cleaned – no intestines or what have you, just the gizzards, heart, etc).
So this week, I bought a market chicken at Plaza Vea, brought it home and tossed it in the freezer. I noticed that the head was on the outside of the chicken; it’s usually in the cavity. Well, now that the chicken has thawed, I see that … ew! It’s still attached!
So now, I get to ‘de-head’ a chicken. Decapitate, whatever. I’m not looking forward to this.
Ah, Peru – the adventure never ends!!
PS – we used an axe!
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Tags: Chicken > Cooking > Home > Meat > peru > Plaza Vea > Poultry
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3 Responses to “Buying Chickens in Peru”
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I got tired of life happening while I made other plans, so I quit my job and came to Peru. I live here with my Peruvian husband, two sons, three dogs and various other family members, depending on the weather.
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September 2nd, 2010 @ 11:28
I remember my Mom bringing home clean chickens from the Market. Sometimes, they were warm to the touch…wow…Now I think it is creepy!
September 2nd, 2010 @ 12:16
Yeah, it’s still kind of weird to me to buy a chicken hanging from a hook instead of from a refrigerator case – but I haven’t got sick from it yet. I make sure to wash them real well as soon as I get home. I usually wash and dry all the pieces and then put them in the freezer in separate bags, because I use the thighs/legs for fried, roasted or seco dishes, and then save the breasts for tallarin, aji de gallina or caldo.
September 11th, 2010 @ 11:32
I’ve been to Miami and Naples , Fla. and Ann Arbor, Michigan and Orange County, California and L.A. and I tried all kind of roasted chicken from grocery stores and fast food and restaurants and I noticed The americans have not the habit to take out the fat of the chicken. It makes the taste of the chicken a little disgusting.