Cockerel and Farmhouse Chicken

The following recipes apply to cockerels and farmhouse chickens. The test of youth is applied at the tip of the breast bone; and confirmed by flexibility in the legs. If less than one year old the tip of the breastbone will still be pliable, the bird being too young for the cartilage to have formed into bone; the legs should be soft and free from scales. If the chicken also has firm plump flesh without too much apparent fat, everything points to a good bird. In youth a chicken has a gelatinous quality which subsequently disappears. The carcase of such a bird will produce a stock which sets into a jelly of its own accord on cooling, but which has less flavour than a full-grown bird. Young chickens are spoiled in flavour by over cooking.