 |
|
 |
 Click here for an index
to all questions, answers, and reports
on New Orleans cooking, recipes, and restaurants. Click here to ask a question or give a report. |
|
Why
Are Breasts
White And Legs Dark?
Paul R. asks: Over Thanksgiving dinner, my son asked me why the meat in a turkey leg or a chicken leg is dark, while the breast is light. I didn't have an answer, but it started me thinking. If you know the answer, cane you also tell why ducks and geese have nothing but dark meat, even in the breast? Tom sez: It's all related to the amount of blood needed by the muscle in question. Dark meats (including beef and lamb, as well as chicken) are dark because they contain more myoglobin. That's a substance that holds oxygen in the muscle tissue for quick availability. It's related to, but not the same as, the hemoglobin in blood. (It's the source of the red juices that come from rare beef, often mistaken for blood by those who disdain properly-cooked steak.) Muscles that do a lot of work tend to conatin a lot of hemoglobin. Since chickens and turkeys don't fly much, their breast muscles have little myoglobin and are light in color. Ducks and geese and quail and squab all do fly, a great deal, and so their breasts are darker. The legs are dark because of all the walking chickens and turkeys do. Revised 3/10/08 Copyright © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. |
|
 Try The Five-Star Daily Edition! Every weekday, I write even more articles, reviews, and recipes for the New Orleans Menu Daily Five-Star Edition. It's constantly updated on the web. And an e-mail version of the day's new articles goes out to subscribers at midday, five days a week. Subscribers also have access to all past articles, including hundreds of recipes (all tested in our own kitchen) and restaurant reviews, indexed for easy use. And no advertising. Upgrade to the Five-Star Edition! You'll find the price agreeable, because it's yours to decide. Any number of dollars you think it's worth. (If you give too much, I'll extend the subscription.) And if you decide later it's not for you, I'll give you a refund. Click here for more information and a sample. |
 "Best
Cookbook Of
The Year!"
--New Orleans Magazine  Here are my favorite recipes--the ones I cook all the time at home for family and friends--all with a distinctly New Orleans flavor. All the classics, plus plenty of originals. All tested thoroughly in my own kitchen. Clear instructions and the stories behind the dishes--as entertaining to read as to cook from! Get An Autographed, Personalized Copy. . . A Tasteful Gift! I would be pleased to personalize and autograph a copy of New Orleans Food for you or a friend. Click here to order a signed first edition. |