Jill wrote:
> A_ L _P wrote:
>>
>> But I was thinking of even earlier tines, in NZ the earliest European
>> settlers in the early half of the 19th century. Chickens would have
>> been brought here as early as possible, i.e. by the first settlers,
>> though probably not by the early sealers and whalers who did not
>> intend to make their homes here.
>
> No - but they certainly carried chickens on board ****ps as they tramped
> around the world.
> I have read things about them being kept up on the masts, so they did
> not make below any stinkier and did not get wet.
Hey that's smart!
> They could be replenished at any place of civilisation.
>
> Were chickens not in NZ before the Europeans?
> I am surprised !
The Pacific Islands provided easy free food, there for the taking
"today" - there doesn't appear to have been anything significant in the
sense of an investment culture. There were ornaments and items of
value, but not that idea that you put the effort (investment) in now and
don't expect to get a reward for a long time. Not like fi****ng for
today's dinner!
>
> I would have thought they would have been there long before.
> Chickens were 'domesticated' thousands of years ago, I would have
> thought they would have got there with the original peoples.
The Maori came in (legend) 7 canoes from their homeland Hawaiiki. They
brought the kumera, a sweet potato that is barely suitable for growing
in NZ. With careful cultivation methods they managed to grow it in the
warmer parts, in the north. They also brought - ah, I've googled and
found
http://www.theoneworld.org/COUNTRIES/NEWZEALAND/travelsintime/thetimejournal.shtml
"It is believed that the Polynesians who first came here on their wakas,
or canoes, brought with them and introduced to New Zealand a Kiori rat
and a dog, but when they arrived there wasn't any other land mammals but
an abundance of birds and fish."
Apart from the kumera plots, and these were as I said not possible in
the majority of NZ, the Maori were hunter-gatherers. They had no
tradition of pottery so no cups or bowls, no cooking or storage pots.
>
> [I love old social history]
>>
>> My parents killed off the chooks after the first year's laying. Later
>> they got a bit more easy-going and kept them 2 years. Nonetheless
>> since the most they ever kept were a dozen (and the pullets coming
>> along) poultry was a special treat. Birthdays, Christmas. Steamed
>> or simmered first then roasted to tender golden perfection - and that
>> real flavour that wasn't remotely like cotton wool.
>
> Indeed, but you could not have cooked that meat in 15 mionutes to carry
> the modern flavours !!!!
> It would have been boot leather. <g>
But who'd have wanted to? It was SO delicious! No, that's not true, in
places where there were plenty of chickens they were cooked in a variety
of ways with the local spices and veges to make meals more varied.
>
> Its my constant cry -- we are not comparing like with like.
>
> Chicken as an INGREDIENT now has completely different demands made of
it.
> It needs to be very young and very tender and is used as a protein
> source which CARRIES other flavours. It is not intended to be a dominant
> flavour in itself.
> This is neither right or wrong -- better or worse -- its just different.
>
It's only wrong, I suppose, because of it being the same word and
because of the existence of "chicken flavour" (chips, stock powder)
which attempts to reproduce the old-definition flavour.
>>>
>>> <grin>
>>> Battery farming has been around for over 150 years.
>>> And its not the producers fault that the human population has
>>> increased so much with the associated demand for food.
>>> Battery farming is not the fault of those who run them, its the
>>> fault of the humans who demand the food they produce.
>>> Maybe Bird flu will be the chickens revenge !! reduce the human
>>> population to a level whereby we do have sufficient land and
>>> stockmen to be able to put outside the birds we need to sup****t the
>>> numbers of humans that are left.
>>>
>>> ;@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
)
>>>
>>>
>> Go Gaia! The Gaia hypothesis seems to have a few things going for it,
>> the way war, plagues and "Acts of God" affect the most stressed parts
>> of the world most frequently.
>
> Mother Nature has been here longer than dog and is more powerful !!
> Its only the arrogance of Man who goes on about destroying the planet
> --- for us maybe -- She will carry on without us and create a new
world.
> ;)
>
>
>
Yay! My p.o.v. too, precisely!
A L P
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