Chicken for Dessert

fx

Thu, 3 Mar 2016 14:56:37 GMT

A fair point Diana!

diana

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:03:51 GMT

Hi, I"m a big fan of your blog! Thank you for sharing this recipe but I would like to point out a couple things. First of all this recipe is similar to the Turkish dessert but there are main differences such as the meat is supposed to be in such small pieces that you can"t see it anymore and never actually chopped. This recipe seems a lot different from the Turkish one. Second of all, the crust at the bottom is not for "upscale restaurants", it"s a slightly different type of dessert and can be found anywhere including cheap bakeries. Also the Turkish dessert is not that sweet compared to cheesecake, or even ice cream, let alone desserts like brownies. I understand that you might not like this dessert as much as blanc manger, but is it really fair to say that blanc manger is a better desert than this one? And who decides what to eat in 21st century? If Turkish eat this in 21st century then I guess it"s possible. This is my favorite Turkish dessert and I don"t think that it does justice to their culture to introduce it using another recipe that"s kind of similar but would taste quite different. Thanks for the history though, it was quite interesting:)

Kathy

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:52:28 GMT

I absolutely MUST "try this at home." I belong to the SCA, and "Lady Catherine" has invited us for a potluck 4th of July. I"m bringing this dessert. But, blame the show "Master Chef." I"m cooking up scenarios as if I"d be on the show one day.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:30:21 GMT

Kirsty, we chatted about blanc-manger the other day, when your documentary is broadcast could you please drop me a line?

Kirsty Calvert

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:29:37 GMT

Hi, I saw your very interesting article about historical blacmange and I was hoping we might be able to have a chat for a documentary programme we are currently making for BBC1 about the history of food.
Best
kirsty

Dave-in-Georgia

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 05:10:38 GMT

Very interesting and I enjoy the devotion to history.

Though advised, "Don"t do this at home - chicken and sugar do not agree with our 21th century palates." I would still like to try this. Just for the fun of it.

fx

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:45:43 GMT

Pearl, thank you, unfortunately I do not know much about Asian cuisine but as soon as an opportunity to explore it comes up I"ll be sure to publish some articles. The main problem is that the most serious books are written in languages I can"t read (Chinese, Japanese, etc...).

Pearl

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:16:03 GMT

I absolutely love your blog! It has really showed me the cuisine from the other side of the world! (I am from Singapore).
Will you be going to featuring more asian cuisine in the future?

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:27:26 GMT

Utkun, thanks for visiting, I thought you might like this article!

Utkun

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:58:10 GMT

Hi again Fx,
It is great to see Tavuk G�ğs� on your blog. It is indeed an extra-ordinary dish, I wonder how they invented this. Maybe someone just accidentaly dropped the chicken in the pudding pot :P
I always loved this since I was a little boy but I was really amazed when I learned that they actually put chicken in it. I am sure, most of all won"t get the chicken taste if it wasn"t called chicken breast.
This is a good example of creativity, there are still so much tastes to be discovered :)

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:41:47 GMT

MYA good luck with your exams and rather try next week"s recipe for blanc-manger, much better!

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:41:18 GMT

Vatsal, glad to hear you are hooked on FXcuisine!

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:39:20 GMT

Demelza glad you liked my article and hope to see you back here!

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:38:41 GMT

Natalie, if you read carefully you will see this is a medieval recipe I made, which you most probably have never tried since it left cookbooks in the 1850s. The Turkish version is different and I like that one.

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:37:33 GMT

Shu, the Turks make one with chicken and sugar that tastes good even today, although it remains a little strange.

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:37:05 GMT

Hillary, check back next Friday for the other blanc-manger, it looks just as nice and tastes better!

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:25:31 GMT

Mirella, oh know the tail is firmly in the back of the dog on this one. There are dozens and dozens of European medieval recipes for blanc-manger. I think the common ancestor was a Roman recipe but as I could not find a precise reference nor any mention of it in Apicius, I left this out of the article.

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:24:03 GMT

Paulina, I"ll have chicken for dessert over grilled scorpions any day! But those scorpions would certainly make a cool article...

Paulina C.L.Tognato

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:52:15 GMT

Fran�ois!
This dessert is so much for my stomach.............
I"ve eaten strangers things in China, like 100 years old eggs and grilled scorpions.............
Anyway, I"ll preffered wild board carpaccio!!!!!!!!
(photos incredibles!!!)
Meats in dessert? Well, it"s not for me.

Mirella

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:31:12 GMT

FX, not sure that you don"t have the tail wagging the dog on this one-- i.e. I think that the "medieval" version of the dish is an interpretation of the original Turkish dish brought back to Europe during the crusades/spice trade/saracen contacts. Historically, I this would make the most sense but I am curious what others have to say. I have only seen the Turkish version of this dish in my cookbooks, never the western european version.

Hillary

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:42:10 GMT

This is very different! I can"t tell if I"d like it but the plate presentation is beautiful!

Shu

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:03:03 GMT

Luckily you put this disclaimer at the end: "Don"t do this at home - chicken and sugar do not agree with our 21th century palates." I was thinking to try it for the sheer novelty! Maybe chicken 2000 years ago have sweeter flesh? Haha...

Natalie

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:33:53 GMT

This is a dessert I grew up with - not to mention one of my favorites. My father was Turkish and my mother learned to cook this from his mother. I remember telling friends as a child to come over to try "chicken pudding" (as we called it) and how horrified they were. We never had it with almonds though - more so with cinnamon. I have to say I am disappointed that you didn"t like it. Perhaps it wasn"t a good batch or recipe... bc for a child with picky taste to love it... it had to be nothing but warm gooey sweetness! You should give another recipe a try - don"t give up on it.

Demelza

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:10:29 GMT

Fantastic and so interesting, as usual. I love your website!

Vatsal

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 20:07:38 GMT

Please don"t miss my next article he says, HAH fat chance of that happening!

Keep up the awesome articles and photography!

MYA

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 17:22:43 GMT

Hi FX
Hope your well this recipe looks awesome i"m trying this out next weekend after exams are over lots of best wishes Mya London x

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:37:40 GMT

Babyg, the mirabelle tart was delicious, but nothing was on it. Just pastry, mirabelles and sugar!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:36:37 GMT

Food Junkie, you might not like the results of the medieval recipe, perhaps it would be best to use modern Turkish recipe for Tavuk Gogsu if that"s the one you like!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:35:46 GMT

Andrea, you can look at my article "Marakech Cooking Class" for a preparation of pigeon pastilla with loads of sugar. I think the "flao" you mention looks very much like the dessert in my article Istanbul Ramadan Kebab, made from some unsalted cheese and sugar!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:34:05 GMT

Chiffonade, in fact I think you might like the Turkish version as it is completely sweet and not in the least savory, with a rather faint chicken taste. Obviously when you know what"s inside, it makes for a rather surprising match!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:32:30 GMT

Rosa, glad I could try this so you don"t have to and wait for the better recipe next week!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:31:58 GMT

Ahmet, I have to look into the italian crushed fished bones. It"s fascinating that in French we call the top part of a baked dish, that delicious brown crust, by the word of "gratin", which also means the upper crust of society. And in Turkey it"s the same but with the delicious crust that forms at the bottom of the dish!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:29:58 GMT

Ayan, thanks for the detailed background on traditional tavuk g�ğs�, this is information I had been looking for in many books but could not nail down. If I come back to Turkey I"d be very interested to visit somebody who makes it in the traditional way. Would you know where I should look?

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:26:58 GMT

Roberto, the sugar is a tricky thing. You need to add it after the chicken, but how much is the real question. Too much and it really becomes a dessert with a chicken taste, little and it some strange savory pudding. But the middle ground makes the strangest and least appetizing version!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:22:26 GMT

Fearless Kitchen, indeed you must be fearless to try the medieval version, I think the Turks got it right. But wait until next week and you"ll see the modern French blanc-manger, that"s something!

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:17:31 GMT

Thanks Carmen, I have always been interested in novel ways of approaching life, and ancient recipess definitely give a fresh angle on things. Glad you like it!

carmen

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 11:56:52 GMT

Hello Francious, I am always fascinated with your blog updates. They are the most interesting, original and culturally accurate blogs I have ever had the pleasure to read. I don"t know were you get these ideas but I must say each and every one of them are extremely interesting and unique. Chicken as a dessert in something I could never imagine possible!
Hope you and your loved ones are doing well. Thank you for all the work you put into your blogs. God bless you.
Carmen Kunhardt

chef4cook

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 09:35:26 GMT

Very interesting!

Fearless Kitchen

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 09:33:15 GMT

I attended a dinner recently where one of the desserts was made from chicken, so when I saw the name of your post I thought this might be a (hopefully better) version of that dish. While yours is different, it actually looks appetizing!

Roberto

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:31:51 GMT

I do not see in the recipe any sugar or sweetener of any type other then the pomagranate?

ayhan ucmakli

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:25:52 GMT

Great article as usual.A couple of points regarding Turkish version(tavuk g�ğs�); thechicken should be boiled without any spices with minimum amount of salt to retain flavour.Breasts should be cooled in stock then taken out.Meat is never ever to be chopped,they are either pounded into a malleable consistency or hand worked in absolute cold water into chicken floss. This depends on the cooks preference. İf you don"t do this, outcome will be a gruel like dish. Almond milk or sumata according to old custom should not be omitted, otherwise the dessert becomes "yalancı tavuk g�ğs�" roughly translated as fake tavuk g�ğs�, acceptable product, nevertheless not the original item.Almond milk sometimes substituted with "s�bye"-not to be confused with Turkish namesake cuttlefish.S�bye is melon seed milk and prepared very much like the almond milk. It is sold as a summer drink in costal towns like Izmir. S�bye alone can thicken and jellify the dessert without rice flour.Finally the final product is spread half an inch thick cooled and rolled.There is a debate amongst the purists whether to add vanilla or not into the milk. Generally milky puddings in old cuisine cooked without vanilla to remain pure and simple.Tavuk g�ğs� should have a consistency of melted cheese on the spoon and you should not taste the chicken at first bite it should arrive much later, thats the proof of the pudding!over and out before sounding a bore.thanks again.

Ahmet Cihat Toker

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:02:24 GMT

The brown crusted version is called "kazan dibi." They are not always done from the "tavuk g�gs�". So do make sure you ask for "kazan dibi" that is made from "tavuk g�g�s�." "Kazan dibi" means the bottom of the pot, and may refer to the bottom part of any desert made from milk.

If I am not mistaken, the whole purpose of adding chicken, is to introduce protein, which forms a basis for milk to stick, and hence give consistency. I read somewhere that the Italians used boiled and then crushed fish bone for the very same purpose in their panna cottas.

Rosa

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 06:40:06 GMT

I have that recipe in one of my books and I"ve always wondered what it should be like... Interesting, but I"m sure it"s an aquired taste!

Cheers,

Rosa

chiffonade

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 05:34:10 GMT

I"m glad you included the caveat "don"t try this at home!" On a visit to Turkey I"d sample the chicken dessert but I think you"re right in that the 21st century dessert palate is not adapted to such flavors. When completing a meal, my tastebuds are anticipating sweet flavors - with the most savory meal-ending tidbit being cheese.

When I saw the title of this entry, I thought, "Oh, this is like pancakes for dinner." Except not! What a fun curve ball :D Thanks for keeping it interesting.

Andrea Kirkby

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 05:30:37 GMT

I seem to remember there are some Moroccan dishes with sweet chicken, too. The combination of sweet/savoury tastes is an interesting one and I wonder whether we should explore it more often - for instance "flao", a lovely tart you find on Formentera in the Balearics, has mint, cheese and sugar - is it a savoury first course or a sweet dessert? I"ve never quite managed to make my mind up! But then I freely admit to being a food deviant - I like my breakfast sausages with marmalade.

FoodJunkie

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 05:21:02 GMT

I LOVE THIS! When we visited Turkey a few years ago I got addiected to Tavuk gogsu. I t is a weird but marvelous combination and thank you for the recipe. I will try it soon!

babyg

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 04:49:00 GMT

Honestly, I had never thought I would see chicken in a dessert! It would be an interesting experience, to say the least!
The mirabelle tart looks tasty! What is on it?