Coq au vin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The coq au vin ("rooster with wine") is a French fricassee of chicken cooked with wine. Older roosters are traditionally used because they contain a lot of connective tissue, which creates a richer broth when cooked.
Many French regions claim coq au vin as their own, but legend has it that the recipe originated with Caesar's chef. The most popular legend says that Julius Caesar's cook created the first Coq au vin recipe after the Gauls gave Caesar a tough old rooster as tribute for his conquering of them, and the cook made the best of the meal to serve back to the Gauls. Different variants exist throughout the country, and many modern variants of the traditional recipe exist drawing their flavors from all over the world (China, India, Thailand, Italy, Spain, etc.).
Nearly all recipes other than those altered for low-fat diets start with lardons, or their more available substitutes, unsmoked bacon or pancetta. The lardons are cooked, and the rendered fat used for browning the other ingredients, and (with the addition of the flour) to form the roux which thickens the sauce. Generally, a full bottle of red wine is used, and brandy may be added.
More traditional versions of coq au vin have the sauce thickened with rooster blood at the end of cooking.
