Some of the best food stories have a circular path. This new breed of poultry began with an immigrant couple who came to America to escape the Nazis. The couple, Alphonsine and Jacques Makowsky, made a new home in Connecticut with a plan to raise African Guinea hens. A contest sponsored in the 1940s by grocery store chain A & P to find “the chicken of tomorrow” influenced their choice of state.
The winner was a chicken farmer from Connecticut who scored the best purebred in the country. His White Rock chickens became so popular with the American public that by the late 1950s more than 50 percent of all chickens consumed in the world came from the White Rock chicken. Connecticut was the leader in their production.
The Makowskys lost their guinea hens in a fire in the early 1950s. Regrouping, they decided to work to develop a new strain of chicken. They used their neighbor's White Plymouth Rock hens and Malayan fighting cocks. The end result was a Rock Cornish Game hen, which was an all-white meat, single-serving bird. Larger than a quail, but smaller than a spring chicken, this new bird became the darling of fine diners in New York City and beyond. In fact, the famous 21 Club in New York sold more than 3,000 of these small birds per day! This delicious fowl was one of the most popular meals of the 1950s and 1960s.
The marketing of this delicious tiny fowl seemed to be single-handedly taken on by the darling of the television variety shows, Victor Borge, a Danish pianist. Borge raised Cornish hens, guinea fowl and pheasants on his Connecticut ViBo Farms. Borge, in that day, was a regular on many television shows. He even appeared on the popular quiz show,
“What's My Line?” on Oct. 11, 1959, with the occupation of “Poultry Breeder,” not pianist. He often spoke of these tiny birds on various shows. Since a celebrity touted them, the fowl were considered quite exotic and saved for special dinner parties.
In actuality, the “Rock Cornish Game hen” is a bit of a misnomer. There is no game bird in its pedigree, nor is every bird sold a hen. The word game was inserted to make the bird more glamorous and more than half of the birds sold were male. So, just what is this little bird?
According to the USDA, the Rock Cornish Game hen is just a very small chicken. Bred from a sturdy legged Cornish game rooster and a Barreled Plymouth Rock hen, the progeny of this cross had short legs and big breasts. Processed at about five weeks, these tiny chickens - and they are just chickens - made a glamorous single serve poultry entree.
Alas, over the last 60 years American tastes have changed. Elegant entrees that require some preparation time have given way to strange cuts like “boneless wings” and chicken breasts that also have no bones. However, the delicious little chicken with the large breasts continues to hold on. Look for them in the frozen foods section of your market. Allow one per serving. Buy them at least one day prior to serving. Let the tiny birds thaw overnight in your refrigerator or place them in a large bowl of cold water in the sink. Replace the water occasionally. To make the birds easier to eat, consider removing the backbone from the game hen. This leaves a "spatchcocked chicken.” Detailed instructions, with pictures, can be found on MarthaStewart.com. Search for "spatchcocked chicken.” By flattening the bird it becomes easier to eat.
Simple Roasted Rock Cornish Game Hens
(For 2 people)
• 2 game hens, spatchcocked per directions on Martha Stewart.com
• 2 Tblsp soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered and parboiled
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• Sea Salt - freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried whole leaf thyme
• 1 sweet onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a large cast iron skillet into oven while prepping the other ingredients. Combine butter, thyme, salt and pepper. Massage over the skin of the bird. Toss potatoes and onion wedges with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Carefully remove hot skillet from the oven. Place potatoes and onions in the bottom of the hot skillet. Place 2 spatchcocked game hens on top of the potatoes and onions. Immediately place back into hot oven. Watch carefully. Begin checking at 15 minutes to see if the hens are browning. A meat thermometer should read 165 when inserted into the thickest part of the breast, without touching a bone. When the hen is browned and the proper temperature is reached, remove the birds from the oven. Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving. Just before serving, squeeze a half lemon over each game hen.
Fran Ginn is former chef/owner of The Back Door Café, who retired after 31 years in the food industry to be a grandmother. She can be contacted at fran@franginn.com.
