POULARDE DE BRESSE AOC

The Bresse chicken is a symbol of France with its distinctive red comb, pristine white feathers, and blue feet - mirroring the colours of the French tricolour. These exceptional birds have been celebrated since the 1600s when the Duc de Savoie presented the finest Bresse roosters to King Henri IV, who praised them for their extraordinary tenderness and exquisite flavour. Raised exclusively in the small town of Bresse in eastern France, they remain the only poultry to be awarded their own AOC designation.

POULARDE V POULET

A poularde is a young female chicken that has never laid eggs, making it significantly superior to a standard poulet (chicken). The absence of egg-laying means the bird retains all its energy for developing tender, flavourful meat rather than producing eggs. This results in exceptionally succulent flesh with finer texture and more delicate flavour than regular chicken. The poularde's meat is prized for its superior marbling and incomparable tenderness.

Bresse poultry upbringing follows extraordinarily strict standards that far exceed conventional farming practices. Each bird must live outdoors for at least five months with access to a minimum of 12 square yards of pasture - providing vastly more space than factory-farmed or even typical free-range chickens. It's delightful to observe these birds roaming freely across the fields and forests surrounding the farms. Hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals are strictly forbidden.

After completing their outdoor life, each poularde undergoes a careful three-week fattening period, dining on corn, wheat, maize, cereals, milk, and buttermilk. This traditional process creates the final layer of flavour and ensures the meat's legendary tenderness.

Very much a bird reserved for the most special occasions, Poularde de Bresse represents the pinnacle of poultry excellence.

PREPARATION

All of our poultry is prepared in house. We prepare each bird on the day it arrives to us from France. We use trussing needles to tie the birds into the perfect shape for oven roasting which means closing any cavities so the birds cook evenly.

FROZEN POULTRY

For optimum freshness we prepare our poultry as soon as it arrives from our suppliers. Each bird is wrapped and frozen to -30°c using a blast freezer. This method prevents ice crystals forming in the meat so the bird is in perfect condition when defrosted, and offers exceptional cooking results.