This week in “duh” news: Dark meat better than light
Carolyn Hecht shows Henny Penny, a black Marans chicken, the 2 eggs she jut got in the chicken coop in her backyard in Freeport. (April 17, 2012) Credit: Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile
“Thighs and drumsticks are climbing the pecking order as Americans join consumers abroad in seeking flavor that isn’t found in ubiquitous, boneless, skinless chicken breasts,” reads today’s Associated Press story, which attributes the shift in taste preferences to TV food shows that “spur demand as chefs talk up dark meat and give home cooks new ideas.”
You don’t say.
I've never understood the chicken breast's hold on American tastes. To me, white meat is a tasteless, easy-to-overcook vehicle for whatever sauce it is topped with. Whereas dark meat has a supple texture and a true, meaty flavor.
Over the years, being in the dark-meat minority had at least one upside: legs and thighs were markedly cheaper than breasts. But now it looks like the jig is up. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, wholesale prices for both boneless, skinless thighs and breasts averaged $1.33 a pound in March, which represented a 15 percent increase for the thighs, but only 1 percent for the breasts.
