Chicken as food

What is Chicken?

Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. Chickens are easy and inexpensive to raise compared to animals like cattle or hogs. Because of this, chicken meat and eggs are found in many different cuisines.

How is Chicken Prepared?

There are many ways to prepare chicken, such as baking, grilling, barbecuing, frying, boiling, and roasting. Since the mid-1900s, chicken has become a main part of fast food. Some people say chicken is healthier than red meat because it has less cholesterol and saturated fat.

Where Do Chickens Come From?

The way chickens are raised for food varies around the world. In developed countries, chickens are often raised in large groups, while in other places, they are raised using older methods. In 2011, the United Nations estimated there were about 19 billion chickens on Earth, which is more than twice the number of people.

A Little History

The modern chicken comes from red junglefowl and grey junglefowl. People first raised chickens thousands of years ago in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Chicken has been eaten for a very long time. It appeared in Babylonian carvings from around 600 BC and was common in the Middle Ages. Many types of chicken have been eaten across the Eastern Hemisphere. It was an ingredient in blancmange, a stew made with chicken, fried onions, milk, spices, and sugar.

In the United States during the 1800s, chicken was expensive and eaten mostly by wealthy people. Its popularity grew during World War II because there was less beef and pork available. In Europe, more chicken was eaten than beef and veal after 1996.

In 2021, chicken became the most produced meat in the world.