A rare broth from older Sommerlad birds

We're just a little excited today. 

You see, it's peak Broth season and we'd been thinking about Top Guts and how you Take Our Broth Away, when Kim Kiss of Grassland Sommerlads called and made us an offer we couldn't refuse.

"Would we like 59 kilos of bones from 19 month-old, Sommerlad breeder flock birds, giving us a rare chance to make a broth from older birds with all the associated richness and flavour?"

Yes, please!

About the broth
Most broth, including ours, is made from the bones of much younger chickens, between eight to 12 weeks, bred for the meat chicken market. Unless you're dispatching your own backyard chooks or you live on a farm, you just can't get older chickens and you absolutely can't get older, heritage-breed birds of this quality. As I said, we're excited.

So, this broth is darker in colour and has a more pronounced, 'chickeny' flavour, as you'd expect.

Generally, the greater the intrinsic flavour in food (not from adding stuff), the higher the nutrient profile - flavour being the byproduct of complex, chemical exchanges between diverse species so the more biodiversity and activity, the more flavour. (Bring on Dan Kitteridge's Bionutrient Meter so we can all see the true nutritional profile of our food...)

Which is why we always bang on about the fact that true 'deliciousness' is created on the farm, not the kitchen. 

We're not denigrating the alchemical skills of gifted chefs, but simply saying that when the ingredients are pulsing with health from biodiverse landscapes, half the chef's job is done for them. Of course, the best chefs know this, which is why they seek out the best ingredients.

Here's Kim Kiss with Roger the Magnificent, the dear departed King of the breeding roosters. Photo by Alan Benson from our book.

About the Sommerlad breeders
The breeder flocks' job is to produce fabulously healthy eggs that become the meat chickens we receive every fortnight and, as any breeder will tell you, it takes great skill to successfully manage a breeding flock over time. Key to this is maintaining flock vigour by moving some birds along at certain stages. In this case, they've moved along to us...

Grasslands Poultry is unique in the meat chicken industry for a number of reasons, all described in the case study in our book, The Ethical Omnivore.

No other small farm is growing heritage birds commercially and running the entire operation within the farm boundary - managing the genetics of the breeding flock, incubating eggs, pasture-raising meat birds and finally, processing and packing birds. Which means less stress for humans and animals and a higher quality standard at every stage of production.

Grassland Sommerlad heritage chickens are simply the best and the healthiest.