Advertorial for Aurum Poultry Co.
Renata Gortan
Most home cooks wouldn’t stop to think about the sex and the farming days of the chicken they’re buying. The main considerations tend to be that the price is right.
But chefs know that it makes a difference. And it can level up your home cooking.
Cockerel by Aurum Poultry Co. is a young male egg-laying chicken that hasn’t reached rooster stage yet. For obvious reasons, female chicks are prized in the egg industry, while the males are considered wastage. But giving cockerels a good life and rearing them as food is a more sustainable path. That’s what Aurum Poultry Co. is doing.
Cockerels do not get the love they deserve. The majority of chickens sold in supermarkets are meat chickens farmed for 35–42 days, but cockerels that are slow grown for more than 100 days provide a different flavour profile; a richer, almost game-like taste and firmer texture. The French have known this for aeons. The famous dish of coq au vin uses cockerel, slowly braised in red wine.
More contemporary dishes include Marmelo’s wood-roasted cockerel with African spices, chilli and potato crisps and Yakikami’s yakitori skewers with different parts of cockerel – including thigh, wing, skin, heart, etc. In Sydney, King Clarence does a drunken cockerel liver skewers slathered in sansho pepper and Vegemite toast. And this June, look out for Good Food Events’ upcoming Snack Series, presented by Aurum Poultry Co., which will feature five chefs and venues creating delicious cockerel-based snacks.
Aurum Poultry Co.’s cockerel is at least 100 days old, compared to commercial chickens which are typically farmed for just 35–42 days. Giving the birds a good life that’s three to four times longer than normal means the cockerels naturally develop firm muscle structure and exceptional flavour.
The texture of its meat is distinctive, bouncy and rich because the bird has had ample exercise on the farm. This flavour and texture is comparable to the renowned Bresse chicken from France and the traditional Three-Yellow chicken from Asia. It’s what chicken is supposed to taste like if you make a point of raising them right and eating both sexes of birds.
For the cockerel-curious, Scottish-born chef Stephen Nairn has shared his recipe for whole cockerel with vin jaune. Chef Nairn has spent time in some very good kitchens; the three-michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in New York and Melbourne’s Vue de monde and Estelle. He is now the culinary director at LK Hospitality, working on the menu and logistics for one-hatted restaurants including Omnia Bistro & Bar and Yūgen Dining.
Whole Cockerel with vin jaune by Chef Stephen Nairn
Ingredients
Brine for cockerel
- 2500ml water
- 100g salt
- 10g black peppercorn
- 10g coriander seeds
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 bunch lemon thyme
- 1 lemon peel
Cockerel
- 100g rendered duck fat
- 1 (approx. 1.6kg) Aurum’s Fook Wong Cockerel
- 200g pancetta, cut into 4 cubes
- 3 shallots, sliced lengthways
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 100g carrot, diced
- 200g button mushrooms
- 20g dried mushrooms (morels or porcini), soaked in warm water
- 1 star anise
- 35g coriander seed
- 4g white pepper seed
- 10g cumin seed
- 500ml vin jaune
- 100ml dry sherry
- 100ml sherry vinegar
- 1 litre white chicken stock
- 500ml brown chicken stock
- 1 small bunch of tarragon, lemon thyme, rosemary
- Chopped tarragon and thyme for sauce
- 100g unsalted butter
- 100g cream
- Vegetable oil (for cooking)
Method
Step 1: Brine the Cockerel
- Bring all the brine ingredients to the boil, dissolve salt and cool down.
- Once cold, reserve for the cockerel.
- Use once and discard.
Step 2: Prepare the Cockerel
- Joint the cockerel into 8 pieces (breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings). Reserve any trims for stock.
- Brine for 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, remove from brine, pat dry and reserve.
- Heat a medium-sized rondeau.
- Add the duck fat and bring to a medium heat.
- Brown all parts of the cockerel, then reserve until later.
- In the same pan, brown the pancetta, then remove and reserve.
- Add the mushrooms to the pot and brown them until they have a deep colour.
- Return the reserved pancetta to the pot.
- Add the sliced shallots, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan.
- Stir in all the spices, tarragon, lemon thyme, rosemary and sweat them down.
- Deglaze with sherry vinegar, then reduce by one-half.
- Add the stock and bring to the boil.
- Skim and taste, then simmer for 35 minutes.
- Continue cooking until a strong depth of flavour is achieved, and the stock has reduced by one-half.
- Add the cockerel. Start by adding the wings, thighs, and drumsticks to the pot and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Then, add the cockerel breast and poach for another 5 minutes until just cooked through.
Step 3: Finishing the dish
- Remove the pot from the heat and rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cooked cockerel pieces and keep them warm.
- Bring the cooking liquor back up to the heat. Pass it through a conical strainer, pressing all the ingredients to ensure the sauce is course with the pulp of vegetables.
- Once the sauce has reduced, add the butter and cream to taste. The sauce should coat the back of the spoon. Add the cockerel back in and glaze. Ensure the cockerel is cooked through, then place on a serving platter, spoon sauce over the top, and finish with fresh herbs.
- Serve with roasted potatoes and mushrooms.
You can find the slow-grown cockerel, corn-fed duck and elevated poultry products from Aurum Poultry Co. at your local butcher shop, Asian poultry shop or Asian supermarket. Alternatively, enjoy the convenience of online shopping by visiting aurumpoultryco.au (available for Melbourne and Sydney metro areas).
The best recipes from Australia’s leading chefs straight to your inbox.
