Ingredient: Guinea fowl
Category: Game
Season: All
The guinea fowl (sometimes called guinea hen) are a family of birds in the same order as the pheasants, turkeys and other game birds.
Guinea fowl have a long history of domestication , mainly involving the Helmeted Guinea fowl The young, called "keets" are very small at birth.
The keets are kept in a brooder box inside the house until about 6 weeks of age, before being moved into a proper coop/enclosure. They eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weed seeds, and ticks while on range or they can also eat chicken layer crumbles while housed in a coop.
The guinea fowl is native to West Africa and is known to have been a part of the diet of the ancient Egyptians. It appears in Roman mosaics but did not become widely eaten in Europe until the Portuguese began importing the birds from Guinea (their colony) in the sixteenth century. Guinea fowl then spread quickly across western and northern Europe and have been reared for the table in this country since Elizabethan times
Guinea fowl are an important food throughout much of Africa , south of the Sahara, and are found in every region of the world. France, Belgium and Italy are amongst the largest producers in Europe.
Guinea fowl meat is high in protein and low in cholesterol . It is a good source of vitamin B6, selenium and niacin.
It’s flavour is somewhere between pheasant and chicken and, though it isn’t as plump as chicken (one will really only serve two people), it does have an extra-gamey flavour.
You can use it for any chicken recipe, but if you want to make something like coq au vin, where the bird needs to be jointed, ask the butcher to do it, as it’s quite difficult.
BUYING
Look for free-range guinea fowl, rather than intensively reared birds.
Many butchers sell free-range guinea fowl imported from France.
Guinea fowl eggs are excellent and worth buying if you see some.
STORING
With giblets removed, a whole guinea fowl will keep in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.
PREPARING
Guinea fowl is prepared in much the same way as chicken.
As it is generally a smaller bird , cooking methods that help retain moistness are recommended (e.g. pot roasting or casseroling).
Barding or regular basting are advisable when roasting guinea fowl.
Legs and wings are also excellent if marinated for a few hours before grilling.
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