There were never fights (that would be unheard of and definitely not tolerated), but there were negotiations. Serious negotiations and bargaining. The parties were sincere and kept their word. The arrangements were only between me and my sister because we were the only ones interested.
As you know, a chicken only has two feet, one liver, one gizzard and one neck. These are all parts of the chicken that my sister and I love whenever curried chicken is cooked. Sure there’d be pieces of the thighs, drumsticks, or breast, but it was these other bits that were really sought after, hence the bargaining.
It’s the creaminess of the liver, dropped in a few minutes before the curry is done cooking; the soft gizzard with a subtle chew that’s been bubbling away with the chicken from the beginning, the bits of meat surrounding the neck and its bone to chew, and the jelly-like texture of the feet cooked soft that were much sought after. It was about a textural experience of eating these parts of the chicken that we enjoyed so much, and still do today. Particularly when it is curried chicken.
The feet were easy to share, we’d each have one, but on occasion, we’d raise the stakes and trade both feet with the other having the liver and gizzard. The neck, we’d ask Mommy to cut in half so we could each have a piece, however, like the feet, there were times when we negotiated to have both pieces of the neck. The heart, being so tiny, was always served up as a throw-in to sweeten the deal so to speak. A lil extra something (lol).
There were times when Mommy realizing what was going on, would half the gizzard and the liver so that Pat and I would both have a little bit of each. It was always appreciated but it just never seemed to be enough, you know. You wanted more, the whole thing to really enjoy it to your heart’s content.
I remember my sister and I being surprised as young adults to learn that chicken liver and gizzard were sold in large quantities by themselves. Like you could buy a pound of liver or a pound of gizzard. Really?! We’d only ever known of chickens being bought whole with their respective bits accompanying them. We made this “discovery” while visiting the home of family friends. One of the women in the group remarked that it had been a long time since she’d had dhal and rice with bunjal (dry curried) liver and gizzard. We could have each sustained whiplash that day with the snap and speed with which our heads swung in each other’s direction, eyes wide.
What’s this I hear? After some enquiry we were told that we could get it from the meat-poultry vendors in the market. To this day, it remains a favourite of ours to have – bunjal liver and gizzard – either as a combination or separately. Of the two offal, we like the gizzard more than the liver.
Here in Barbados, in the supermarkets, trays of a combination of livers, gizzards and necks are sold, and let me tell you, they are not inexpensive and are usually gone as soon as they come out. Bajans usually make stews with them, fry them or cook them as a fry up or put into soups. Most of the people I see buying them are older folks, so you know some good homestyle cooking is going down there. Demand outstrips supply. I usually have to tell my butcher to keep gizzards for me whenever he gets any from the poultry farmers.
The sale of chicken necks in large quantities was also new to me. I only became aware of that here in Barbados many moons ago. On the weekends, as part of the street food scene, in shops and bars, you can get fried gizzard, fried liver and fried chicken necks! Yup. All served with a helping of hot pepper sauce. You can also get fried liver or gizzard stuffed between fresh salt bread rolls with lashings of pepper sauce. It is a popular street food breakfast item, and you have to be really early because they are gone before eight in the morning.
While I enjoy liver and gizzard and would buy it by the pound, it never occurred to me to do the same with chicken feet – cook an all chicken feet curry or stew. I’ve had a few in soup, and cook-up rice, from the whole chickens I’d buy. However, the other day, I saw a Facebook friend in Guyana post about a childhood favourite – Chicken feet stew. After one look at the photograph, I knew I was going to give it a try. My friend ate his with rice and his parents had theirs with boil and fry ground provision. My intention was to have mine with Bajan rice and peas. That never happened. I sat with a small plate full of the stewed chicken feet and ate them just so, licking my fingers. On another occasion, I made an all chicken-feet curry and it was good too.
Wings, thighs, drumsticks, breasts… whichever part of the bird is your favourite, you can buy in various quantities and cook. No need to negotiate or bargain when there’s only one or two parts of something. What’s your favourite part of the bird? My late brother’s favourite part was the drumstick and my late mom’s was the breast.
Cook something that you like this weekend and enjoy it to the fullest.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
