Capons made in Brittany
Posted by LN, Monday 15 December 2008 at 14:02 - Made in Brittany - Tags
Christmas in France is like a gastronomy fair. During a week or so, you’re eating from one place to another. And everyone is trying to do his best. The most typical is turkey with chestnuts and as a dessert we call it la buche (it is an icecream looking like a log)... May be you’re doing the same across the Channel…
Anyway, for some years, another poultry is savoured during those times of plenty : the capon. And when you know that France is the first producer of poultry in Europe and that Brittany produces 40% of the French production... Here I am !!! In Janzé, a small town 20 km south from Rennes where the production of the poultry (poulet de janzé) is famous for his quality ...
What is a capon ?
It is a chicken that eats corn (75%) and enjoys walking on 2 square meters land.
Its also a cock
whose reproductive organs and comb have been removed when it was 6 weeks old. It grows outside
for 6 months (3 months only for the chicken) and spends the last 3 weeks of his life locked eating unskimmed milk. When it is ready to be eaten, it weights 4 to 4,5 kgs (2 kg for an adult chicken).
A traditional caponization ?
Roman learned caponization from other countries and used it in Rom to stop the cockcrow. In Brittany, capons were breeded during the XIXth century but it stopped at the beginning of the XXth century because of the high mortality rate of the castrated cocks. The production began again in 1988.
The raising of capons begin in July to be ready for Christmas time. The castration is a delicate operation and does not always succeed. If the capon begins to crow, forget the unskimmed milk... Because of castration, the cock doesn’t have male hormones and and its metabolism changes. Its flesh is tender.
The poulet de Janzé is a grouping of breeders from the region of Janzé. They breed a high quality poultry (Label Rouge). It follows several standards of quality : they have to eat 75% of corn, they have to be raised outside, they have to live x days and have to be killed in good conditions (no stress !!!)…
If you want to go to the capron fair
– the fair exists since 2002- it always takes place in Janzé, the week end before Chrismas. You have a market of several poultry and you can meet chefs that are giving their recipes…
Caprons are sold from the 15th of December to the 15th of January…
Cock-a-doodle-do
Read it in French : le chapon de Janzé à la foire du dernier week end avant Noel : entre terroir et tradition
Anyway, for some years, another poultry is savoured during those times of plenty : the capon. And when you know that France is the first producer of poultry in Europe and that Brittany produces 40% of the French production... Here I am !!! In Janzé, a small town 20 km south from Rennes where the production of the poultry (poulet de janzé) is famous for his quality ...
What is a capon ?
It is a chicken that eats corn (75%) and enjoys walking on 2 square meters land.
Its also a cock
whose reproductive organs and comb have been removed when it was 6 weeks old. It grows outside
for 6 months (3 months only for the chicken) and spends the last 3 weeks of his life locked eating unskimmed milk. When it is ready to be eaten, it weights 4 to 4,5 kgs (2 kg for an adult chicken).
A traditional caponization ?
Roman learned caponization from other countries and used it in Rom to stop the cockcrow. In Brittany, capons were breeded during the XIXth century but it stopped at the beginning of the XXth century because of the high mortality rate of the castrated cocks. The production began again in 1988.
The raising of capons begin in July to be ready for Christmas time. The castration is a delicate operation and does not always succeed. If the capon begins to crow, forget the unskimmed milk... Because of castration, the cock doesn’t have male hormones and and its metabolism changes. Its flesh is tender.
The poulet de Janzé is a grouping of breeders from the region of Janzé. They breed a high quality poultry (Label Rouge). It follows several standards of quality : they have to eat 75% of corn, they have to be raised outside, they have to live x days and have to be killed in good conditions (no stress !!!)…
If you want to go to the capron fair
– the fair exists since 2002- it always takes place in Janzé, the week end before Chrismas. You have a market of several poultry and you can meet chefs that are giving their recipes…
Caprons are sold from the 15th of December to the 15th of January…
Cock-a-doodle-do
Read it in French : le chapon de Janzé à la foire du dernier week end avant Noel : entre terroir et tradition
Caprons as a traditional production of brittany (France), differences between chicken and caprons, France as the first producer of poultry in Europe, Poulet de janzé as a high quality poultry, Poulet de janzé groupings of traditional breeders, Poultry for chrismas time : a capron, Roman and caponization, Specificity of caprons, The capron fair in brittany, What is a Label Rouge in France
French