Bresse Gauloise in USA?

[aveca]

Here is a group in calif that made some to european laws and standards and sell the meat but not the birds thou.. Too bad we deserve a great tasting chicken not like the more weight to make more $$$ and less flavor. I think we should be working on projects like this.

http://www.1-800-kobebeef.com/blfoch.html

Beleive me I have looked and looked for these, you might stand a better chance of talking the canadinas out of a few..

 

[aveca]

Looks like it would be a no on the canadians , the article I posted says that the canadian flocks were destroyed in the avian flu scare ..See what can happen when you hold these birds too tight? you stand a chance of loosing all of them and you cant turn to one of your buyers for re-building your stock.. They need to get some of these birds out to other breeders to prevent them from being wiped out in any sort of outbreak.

 

[exop]

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The blue footed chicken in the U.S. was developed by some commercial poultry producers in an attempt to replicate the appearance (blue legs, white skin, carcass shape) and taste of the Gauloise. ...But there is no Gauloise stock in it.

This is what the kobebeef site offers.

As for legal penalties for using the term Bresse Gauloise... wouldn't these have binding power only within France? Not that there would be any point to claiming that you were raising a "Bresse chicken" when you were obviously not in the Bresse region or even in France. Since the breed in question is a Gauloise no matter where it is raised, it would make more sense to label it with your own terroir ("Winnipeg Gauloise"! ) if you wanted to add cachet.

Quote:
OMG

beautiful.

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Saladin, this is really about meat and eating meat rather than about arbitrarily seeking out an exotic chicken. Gauloise are in no way threatened; just bc they are not present in the US. does not mean they are a "rare breed" . They are desirable because they are supposedly extraordinarily tasty with a good texture and good growers in a slow finishing, free range situation. Doesn't look like there's much meat on those Ga Cua!

Best regards, exop

 

[blackdotte]

As for legal penalties for using the term Bresse Gauloise... wouldn't these have binding power only within France?

No,as the wine makers that used the names Champagne & Burgundy found out some years ago.​

 

[exop]

Hmm... I'm looking at a bottle of Inglenook Burgundy, clearly labelled "Burgundy". (Not that I'm proud of this particular vintage

). According to the label, "product of Argentina"; bottled by Inglenook, California.

I think it would have to depend on the country you were in, and the applicability of particular international agreements (with France)... I also wouldn't be surprised if there were different laws for different classes of product (dairy, vs meat, vs wine) and items which were exported as opposed to those consumed domestically.

I'm not advocating for pretending to produce Bresse fowl.

I think the California blue legged chicken people are taking it a little far. Sure, if you can't get Gauloise, create your own tasty premium meat bird; but why go to the trouble of breeding in a blue leg?

...By the way, their chicken is based in part on the Cou nu, red Naked Neck whose genetics are also part of the Hubbard slow finishing meat lines used in Label Rouge meat production in France... these lines are available from several sources in the US. (Sold as "Freedom Rangers " or color range broilers ). If I can find someone to go in with me, I might try some of these next year... the down side is that working with a hybrid, I'm not sure what I could expect from a second generation of birds.

Best regards, exop

 

[ultasol]

Quote:
Now,.. we can do the same type of conditioning and lifestyle for birds here. There are two factors that I believe add to the tenderness and flavor of the bresse. I toured a Bresse farm in FR in 2003 and the basics as it was explained by the producer and as was observed was this:
Cockerels are caponized. These are premium birds. They are turned out and grazed in a low density system, they will rotate pastures or use movable fences to make sure they always have access to fresh ground, bugs, etc. They have access to good feed as well. For some period (I believe it is a week) prior to slaughter they are put indicidually in small cages with corn, food, and fresh water kept in front of them at all times to put on some fat for more flavor. Then they are butchered. I think similar results could probably be achieved with some of the older meat breeds here. I've had domestic capon, and it was also very good.

Now,.. a good french chef can turn one of these meticulously raised birds into a masterpiece, but they can also make sweet meats, blood sausage, liver, heart, etc into masterpieces...

 

[stoneunhenged]

Quote:
No,as the wine makers that used the names Champagne & Burgundy found out some years ago.

Actually, the US Congress has enacted laws that allow American vineyards to use the traditional geographic terms for wine like Burgundy and Champagne:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/5388.html

But, the question for this forum is if you were to raise Bresse chickens in the United States, could you call them Bresse? And if you didn't call them Bresse, what else could you call them since Bresse appears to be their only name?

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

im gonna reserect this thread so we can hear what other people got to say
Quote:
No,as the wine makers that used the names Champagne & Burgundy found out some years ago.

Actually, the US Congress has enacted laws that allow American vineyards to use the traditional geographic terms for wine like Burgundy and Champagne:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/5388.html

But, the question for this forum is if you were to raise Bresse chickens in the United States, could you call them Bresse? And if you didn't call them Bresse, what else could you call them since Bresse appears to be their only name?

 

[ChooksChick]

I, too, am interested in this idea, and I think there are signs that the American public are interested in paying more for a quality product even as our pockets are emptier. We are tired of the crap we've been fed for so long, and perhaps look more to quality over quantity a bit more these days.

I know some of the farms here which sell fresh chicken to the public are using hybrids of their own design, and there are other farms making dual purpose or meat breeds that fit their ideals rather than taking what is out there. One example is the Copper Scotch.

I'm interested in my own projects, which fall under this purview, and have been working on a dual-purpose bird with a cushion comb for a Winter-hardy forager and 2 meat seasons. This is a bird that has Chantecler and Orp blood along with a few others- it is huge but can find some of its own food while enjoying winter. The egg production is quite good. I'm still working it to breed true to a specific conformation.

Back to the flavor- I think that I've finally agreed there are varying qualities imparted by the forage, insects, and feed any particular bird is eating, but with that come natural qualities the bird possesses. The Chantecler is a bird which weighs significantly more than it appears to. It is a LEAN bird, with almost no fat, and has a wonderful delicate aromatic flavor, even at 22 weeks- and is very tender despite the age. If a normal grocery bird is 6-10 weeks old, it obviously costs more to get a bird to butchering size, but I haven't found too much difference in an 18 week-old Chantecler, so I think as this project progresses I'll be able to select for a 14-week ideal. I think it would be well worth it to have a fine bird at that lengthy growth. The Orps I'm using are massive and rather quick-growing, while I've considered throwing in some Marans, as I have a line of FBCM that grow so fast it's almost amusing. That would likely lend flavor from all accounts, though I can't say from personal experience.

I'd like to know what folks think of the flavor of various breeds, and I'm going to start a thread asking as much, after which I'll run a poll so folks can vote for the tastiest from the top 20 breeds named. Perhaps then I can do the same for various feeding practices/substances.

 

[Gypsy07]

Ooh, this is an interesting thread! I was planning on getting some Ixworths this year, as they're supposed to be a great dual purpose breed and very tasty. But one of the suppliers I was looking at also keeps Gauloises and now I'm wondering if I should perhaps try them instead. I was originally interested in the Ixworths as a rare traditional British breed, which the Gauloises obviously aren't. But they do sound very tempting...