My mad husband and his capon

Pas Beną darbe yra toks intranetinis puslapis kuris vadinasi "General Babble", na tai ten visi darbuotojai gali dėti visokius skelbimus arba šiaip pastebėjimus ir paplepėjimus (na, ir turi biurokratai laiko tokiems dalykams :)) Tai va, ten Benas buvo įdėjęs tokį "juokelį" kur klausė gal kas žino kaip iškastruoti gaidį, kad būtų galima pagaminti Capon (lietuviškai "vištgaidis"). Capon aprašymas Vikipedijoje teigia kad:

A capon is a rooster (cockerel) whose reproductive organs have been removed at a young age (caponization). Typically, the castration is performed when the chicken is between 6 and 20 weeks old.The benefits to this process are non-aggressive males that produce ample, tender, chicken-flavored meat when butchered, and as such are a choice poultry meat in some locales. These chicks are surgically de-sexed at three weeks of age to neutralize the muscular development of the birds and contribute to the tenderness and flavor of mature birds. The birds are well-fed for about 16 weeks until they weigh 8-10 lbs. This is double the life span of conventional chickens, adding to the cost, but making the birds more of a special dinner centerpiece. The long growing process naturally produces a high-weight bird with well-marbled meat. Cooking capons takes the same attention and care as growing them. They are often slow-roasted and make an ideal holiday treat.

Na, po to buvo net keletas grąsinimų apskųsti Beną gyvūnų teisių apsaugininkams, nes pasirodo, ne pas visus rastas jumoro jausmas :)

Kai aistros šiek tiek aprimo, ir jau vėl buvo galima drąsiai apie Capon prabilti, Benas įdėjo į tą tinklapį šią nuotrauką su aprašymu:

About a year or so ago I made a posting on this site asking if anyone knew how to castrate a rooster, I wanted to make some Capon – the spectacular culinary treat that graces the tables of Europe on special occasions. Well I got a number of replies but none of them were any help – bureaucrats I suppose. But like the little engine that could I just kept on going, and at last, 55 roosters later, success!

As you can see from the photo, I finally bred one to full size. Ironically, that capon, plucked, gutted and ready to roast, clocked in at 5.5kg. In Chicken speak “he’s” a size 55. As a point of comparison, next to “him” is a Rangitiki Free Range (I like my birds to have lived a little) size 14 chicken. Pathetic, isn’t it?

I got quite attached to “him” as he survived and then fattened away, so attached, I named him Eugene (the Eunuch). Eugene was ostensibly free range, but in reality “he” sat under a tree and ate, occasionally looking confusingly at the chooks (I don’t think Eugene dreamed of being King Cock), but most often opening his beak and asking me to drop something in. the only time “he” ever ran more than 5 metres was when “he” was stealing food off the chooks. I was almost sad to see ol’ Eugene go, but once that big bird was served, I couldn’t even remember those sad brown eyes.

I reckon I got it mastered now, and I learnt a few things along the way that should help me expand production (for example, if you stress a brooding chook she’s more likely to pop out Rooster eggs). Hopefully it wont be long until I can offer them up for sale on these very pages.

Šį kartą buvo sureaguota ne taip jautriai, atrodo buvo tik vienas grąsinimas paskųsti gyvūnų teisiu apsaugai. Atrodo pagavo žmonės apie ką čia. Vienas net įdėjo tokią nuotrauką kaip atsakymą:

"Gailiesi kad valgei tą elnieną?"