78/365: National Poultry Day

You’re a chicken if you don’t celebrate today’s food holiday, and you’d better duck or I’ll goose you, ya turkey! No need to cry fowl. In case you hadn’t guessed, March 19th is National Poultry Day.

And also, 5 Puns For The Price Of 1 Day.

Chicken is the most popular type of poultry, and accounts for 20% of the world’s protein. Descended from the Red Jungle Fowl, a small Southeast Asian pheasant, chickens (and ducks, geese, and pigeons) were first domesticated in China 3000 years ago. Surprisingly, they weren’t bred for their meat or eggs, but were used instead for cockfighting, a popular sport that spread throughout Asia and Europe. Little did they know how delicious those birds taste smothered in sweet ‘n sour sauce! Eventually, humans became too “civilized” to allow cockfighting to continue, and Colonel Harlan Sanders needed to go in a different direction to revive his fledgling Kentucky Fried Goat franchise, so a new use for poultry was discovered. Europe sent chickens to America and we gave them turkeys (by turkeys I mean large birds that are popular at Thanksgiving, not Ashton Kutcher films). Poultry became popular during World War II when other livestock were scarce, and new storage and distribution methods were developed. While chicken reigns supreme, turkey and duck are also popular, and there is even a trendy meal involving all three: the infamous turducken. Popularized, of course, by John Madden.

Had we thought of this sooner, we would have looked for a turducken. What better way to celebrate National Poultry Day, right? The possibilities were nearly endless already. There are hundreds of chicken and turkey recipes out there. Finally, we decided on chicken tacos, just because it had been awhile since we’d had Mexican food. What can I say? They were muy bien!