Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Cooking all these chicken dishes and stock as I have been in this  Covid-19 winter 2020, reminded me of some happier times and our visit to Bresse, the home of the famous Bresse chicken, la volaille de Bresse, and the Monday market day in the market town of Louhans in Burgundy.

The summer of 2017 found us travelling through the beautiful countryside of Bresse, in Burgundy, doing a road trip for a change, instead of travelling slowly along on the Betty B barge.  We spent our four-week French visit looking for a good marina in which to moor our Betty B Barge. En route, we were to lunch with our dear friends on their barge in Pont-de-Vaux and that was just a 30-minute drive from Louhans, where each Monday the famous chicken market is held. and Monday was the date for our lunch.

Driving around Bresse, the Bresse red, white and blue chickens are everywhere and when you do not see them in the farmyards, their pictures are on signs, billboards everywhere.  Bresse is the home of volaille de Bresse, the Prince of Poultry, Chicken aristocracy! To read more about Bressan chickens, what makes them so special and their AOC and AOP accreditations, stipulating exactly the conditions required for their breeding and production, click this link.
Bresse chickens are renowned, and prized for their quality, size, tenderness, plump white breasts, the taste of the ‘terroir’. With their red crests, white bodies and blue legs they symbolise the tricolours of the French flag and are regarded as an emblem of France! The Bresse climate is ideal for breeding poultry plus for the growing of corn and wheat, the preferred diet of these chickens.

This Monday market remarkably dates back to the 13th century and has continued, supposedly without interruption, ever since.  And we could understand why, it was a unique and wonderful experience, one not to be missed by any market lover and an essential detour for a food lover.
We were forewarned about the parking or lack thereof and as we approached, say 2 – 3 ks from the centre of town, we were in a traffic jam at 8am! And there were cars parked along the sides of the road. We decided to park wherever we could and walk into the market.  This turned out to be a very good idea and much quicker all round, except it was a very hot day! And the car’s air-conditioning was appealing. It was a pretty walk along the road-side path past the colourful gardens and houses, Chambre d’Hôtes, just like other pretty French country towns.

Walking into town we noticed men and women carrying wicker baskets and cardboard boxes containing live chickens! Ready for the hen house or the pot! You may note there are many old French farmhouse chicken recipes that start telling you how to gut the chicken, after it is just brought home from the market.

We arrived at the main roundabout which has a huge tree in the centre,  walked over a very pretty bridge and into the town centre.  People were everywhere and policemen directed the traffic and pedestrians.  We admired the main street with its magnificent medieval arcades lining both sides of La Grande Rue, the main street. This main street is France’s longest existing Medieval street lined with beautiful arcaded arches.

Behind the arches, we found some of the chicken shops selling the ‘dressed’ birds, ready for your table. These chickens have the colourful red, white and blue AOC labels confirming that this is legally Bresse Poultry. The heads are left on so you can see their freshness plus their sex. The male has the large red crest and the female a smaller one.  Butchers are supposed to tell the customers the sex of the bird they are buying as customers do have their preferences.  Some prefer to roast a female chicken as it has more fat whereas the males are good braised and cooked with cream.  Some white feathers remain on the bird as proof of the breed and there is a ring attached to the bird’s left leg with the producer’s name and address.
The chickens are large and expensive, they demand a premium price, but you know they will be exceptionally flavoursome and succulent. We ate a few plump chicken breast ‘speciality’ dishes whilst in Bresse, along with the ubiquitous roasted chicken bought at the market. The meat was tender, juicy and flavoursome, and the breast was huge.
After wandering along the shops in the main street, we wanted to find the poultry market where the live chickens are sold, and the food and general market.  We were told it is just nearby, around the corner and over a bridge, in another area of the small town. Not far away. It was enormous!

Rows and rows of poultry stalls, selling every size and type of chicken available, full grown, chicks, plus doves, budgerigars, canaries; rabbits, dogs and other pets. There were shops selling clocks, lawn-mowers, mattresses, house-hold gadgets, bric-a-brac, colourful baskets, special spoons for creatively styling your sauce on your dinner plate, I had to buy one, the guy really ‘sold’ it to me! and we sometimes use it in cooking class.  There was everything imaginable in this huge and unique market. And of course the usual mainstay stalls of every French market, magnificently displayed fruits and vegetables, charcuterie, honey, cheese, and those roasted chicken vans.  We bought a roast chicken and potatoes for dinner later that day.

We meandered along the stalls, conspicuously tourists, taking photos, of course, walking alongside the farmers and French shoppers. The shopping in France is a special experience, nothing is rushed, customers are patient, it is an essential part of how they live, the art de vivre, the art of living, it is called, the French shopping experience.  In the chicken market, the buyers ask to inspect the chickens, the shop-keepers, farmers, bring out the chosen chicken, patiently wait until the inspection is complete.
In the boulangeries and boucheries all over France, despite the queue, customers and shop-keepers chat, they may ask how to cook whatever they are buying, sometimes the stallholder will ask the shopper how they intend to cook their purchase and so the conversation continues.  Customers are patient, as each knows he will get his turn to exchange similar pleasantries and considerations.
It is the same ‘shopping experience’ here in this market, we saw customers patiently waiting, while others talked to the stall-holder about the produce, some asked to inspect the chickens, which included an ‘examination’ of a few chickens and then if they did not buy from that stallholder, they wandered to the next one that a takes their fancy, without anyone being upset, disappointed or annoyed.  It is the ‘shopping experience’.
France is a country that still really cares about the quality of its food and it appreciates the people’s enjoyment of it. This is one of the many reasons why I love spending time there.
It was during the 1950s when chicken became a very popular, affordable city dish as the breeding programs took off around the world. Rather than being a special occasion dish, chicken became a regular item at the family table. Of course, it was always a regular for the farmer’s dinner in the countryside!
There are a variety of Chicken dishes for you to cook in the Recipe Collection on the website plus there are many more to come, so search there for the best classic Coq au Vin, roasted spatchcock, Poulet Vallee D’Auge, chicken and cheese ‘stew’, chicken, leek and mushroom petit pots with a cheesy, creamy cauliflower topping, the Italian Stracciatella alla Romano, an egg soup with chicken quenelles and a fresh and spicy chicken curry.