Chicken Information

[Alienescape]

Hi,

So I'm living in Trujillo and for the most part I avoid buying chicken. I don't really buy it because whenever you go to the market (Mayorista or Hermalinda) the chicken always smells... weird. I've bought it a few times, but the smell sticks to the meat and I don't like the taste it gives it. I've tried washing the chicken and adding it to things with strong flavors, but so far I haven't succeeded in getting rid of that gross taste. So I've mostly been avoiding buying it, but lately I've been wanting to eat more. Do you guys have any suggestions on where I should buy my chicken?/How I can get rid of the weird taste? I'm used to being able to buy 20 frozen, boneless breasts in the US, but that's not really an option. So I'm just looking for the easiest, cheapest option. I've seen some boneless meat in the Supermarkets, but it's usually very expensive for just a few pieces. So I don't mind buying boned meat, I just want to avoid that horrible smell/taste.

Thanks,

Trujillo Expat

[Slippin' Jimmy]

Probably inferior feed.
Is it possible for you to raise your own chicken?
That was you can control their environment.

[Wiracocha]

G'day up there,
Not sure what the issue is up there, but...down here in Lima, the fresh markets also put out a strong smell from the chicken stalls/stands.( not to mention the meat and fish stands)..... my Peruvian wife says its because its fresh !! mmmmm, being an Aussie gringo, I reckon its because it is not refrigerated in the mecados at all.......like I was used to back home. Not whinging, just saying.

But your extra comments about not being able to get rid of the taste, seems to lend itself to what the bird eats...or, bacteria.
Have you sufferred from the "Inca quick-step" after eating it ?? ( diarrhoea)

Cannot offer any actual solution to your local query, sorry.
V

[windsportinperu]

Hi,

The meat at "mercado" is like your wife said FRESH.

Non-refrigerated meat is fresh, while refrigerated meat could not be fresh anymore because it is been sold several days after the chicken was butchered.

Some places in Lima also sell chicken that is fresh and is slighty refrigerated , they are not Metro or Wong.. They are small micro-seller who has additional refrigeration system for their chicken.

In the case of fish, only is considered fresh when no refrigeration is used. Fishes brought from distance longer than 1 or 2 hours to Lima is preserved adding flake ice. It is also considered fresh because it is sold during the same day it was caught in the Ocean..

[windsportinperu]

I really do not know the exact word - English term - for the chicken you bought, but it is probably "abombado" .

When we leave a piece of wet clothing in a humid place It begIns to smell "abombado" after some days

The non-refrigerated meat should be sold during the day it was butchered

Try to find a seller in Truijllo who has the best of both World : refrigeration + fresh breasts butchered and sold the same day..

Early in the morning is the best hour I think ..

P.S. another reason why chicken smell like "abombado" is when it is frozen for a long period of time.. weeks + weeks and then it is defrosted and later cooked

P.S.S. Another option is asking the locals, specially women who cook regularly in Trujillo that you want to get fresh breasts

[SilverbackPeru]

You should not be leaving chicken out unrefrigerated for long periods of time. Once the chicken has been killed and butchered it should refrigerated as soon as possible and any chicken bought from any shop should be taken home and refrigerated as soon as possible.

The confusing seems to be with fresh and going off. Yes the chicken might have been killed just that morning and could be classed as fresh from that day but that's not what you should be measuring. What you should be measuring is how long the chickens been sat outside and going off for. If a bit of chicken is sat for 3 to 6 hours on a counter that is not properly refrigerated in a very hot humid climate then it's going off at a way faster rate that a piece of chicken that's been killed and frozen immediately and put into a freezer for a day or two.

Just remember just cos someone says it's fresh, it doesn't mean it's been stored correctly. You should look for signs of the chicken going off when you buy it. The chicken should be pink so keep an eye out for signs of it going grey or yellow. It feels slimey. It smells foul.

I do think in some of the markets in Lima can have a very strong funky smell to them compared to a properly refrigerated butchers store. You know a clinical smell in a butchers shop, that ice cold smell of meats but it smells hygenic. Maybe the food is going off at a faster rate in the markets but it could also be that the store owners work with a lot less space and that they've gutted the carcasses close by in the same area and maybe not gotten rid of the guts etc yet and it's just sat somewhere nearby stinking. The shop keepers just do everything in one space, it's not like they have a preparation area and shop front separate.

Just a quick question. Do butchers and markets have food hygene ratings in Peru? Do inspectors come to make sure they are safe?

[windsportinperu]

SilverBack, Yes they have “inspectores Municipales”, but the quality of the inspection depends on where we live.

It is important not to trust in long term refrigerated meat, at least in places where the hygiene and manipulation of the breasts is not the best as we could desire

It is also important the quantities we decided to buy. In this case the popular wisdom is to buy chicken that is going to been consumed the same day or at least during the next 2 or 3 days. Yes I know that it is not possible for everyone, but it is important to change our habits of buying 20 or more breasts for longer periods of time

Instead of buying 20 breasts or more, it is far better to buy it in small quantities. This way it is done in my family and works fine. The good Restaurants prefer fresh meat and vegetables than the refrigerated ingredients

Let’s see it this way. A recently butchered piece of breasts will always tastes better than a frozen breasts that has been at the freeze for let’s say 8 or 10 days , This is an assumption considering that the cooker is using the same cooking method and the same ingredients to season it (salt, pepper or whatever you like)

One of the secret of the Peruvian cuisine is using ingredients as fresh as it is possible.

[SilverbackPeru]

Yeah it's exactly the same everywhere, if you want the best food you get fresh ingredients. We still have the fish mongers and butchers with fresh meat daily and all restaurants try to stock fresh ingredients but that's not the point. The point is it doesn't matter how fresh something is, if it's not stored correctly it can start to go off almost immediately after a few hours, even more so in a hot climate without refrigeration, even more so when it's chicken and fish.

I think your general health and safety guidelines says that chicken can be refrigerated for two to three days until it goes off. Frozen it can keep for 4-6 months, unrefrigerated it can be spoiled after just two hours depending on the conditions and even less in a warm room (what about hot climate?). Now imagine the chickens been sat on a counter for two hours during a hot summer day in Lima with almost no refrigeration. It could very well be that the funky smell actually isn't actually the smell of fresh chicken but OFF chicken.

Again it could be just other things people are catching a smell of in the background like the wasted cuttings in the bins. But you have to be careful with both chicken and fish. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how fresh something is if it's not stored properly it goes off and in hot weather it goes off fast.

[windsportinperu]

It is important when participating in a forum, not to generate unnecessary controversial points and try to give a practical solution to the OP. That has been my personal choice since the first time I was here

It is obvious that the faster we put a piece of meat into refrigeration, the faster we preserve it, we all know that since we were children

The OP is talking about breasts chicken with “abombado” flavor. He (or She) cannot get rid off it, even if it’s washed carefully.

The more time a piece of meat is put into a refrigerator, the more prone to get the flavor mentioned by the OP, that is why the list of recommendations given before, could be eventually useful for the OP.

Thanks for the conversation ..

[jumpinjack]

It is important when participating in a forum, not to generate unnecessary controversial points and try to give a practical solution to the OP. That has been my personal choice since the first time I was here

It is obvious that the faster we put a piece of meat into refrigeration, the faster we preserve it, we all know that since we were children

The OP is talking about breasts chicken with “abombado” flavor. He (or She) cannot get rid off it, even if it’s washed carefully.

The more time a piece of meat is put into a refrigerator, the more prone to get the flavor mentioned by the OP, that is why the list of recommendations given before, could be eventually useful for the OP.

Thanks for the conversation ..

"It is obvious that the faster we put a piece of meat into refrigeration, the faster we preserve it"
Does not seem to be obvious in Peru.

[windsportinperu]

Thanks for the unnecessary criticism

P.S. We were talking about small tiny Stall at Mercado 2 mts x 2 mts .. No space for a refrigeration..

[jumpinjack]

Thanks for the unnecessary criticism

P.S. We were talking about small tiny Stall at Mercado 2 mts x 2 mts .. No space for a refrigeration..

I am sorry, I saw no mention of stall size for the reason for no refrudgeration and what does that have to do with my "unnecessary critisim"? What I stated, corrected me if I am wrong, was the obvious, based on your observation.
Sorry if I bursted you bubble.

[windsportinperu]

Thanks for the unnecessary criticism

P.S. We were talking about small tiny Stall at Mercado 2 mts x 2 mts .. No space for a refrigeration..

I am sorry, I saw no mention of stall size for the reason for no refrudgeration and what does that have to do with my "unnecessary critisim"? What I stated, corrected me if I am wrong, was the obvious, based on your observation.
Sorry if I bursted you bubble.

There is a phrase in Spanish that say "Es de caballeros disculparse" - I haven't found an English phrase so I hope the spanish phrase is appropriate for this situation

Best Wishes and see you in the next thread ..

[jumpinjack]

Google Translate is your friend. Apology accepted.

[SilverbackPeru]

The non-refrigerated meat should be sold during the day it was butchered

Try to find a seller in Truijllo who has the best of both World : refrigeration + fresh breasts butchered and sold the same day..

Early in the morning is the best hour I think ..

Sorry I wasn't trying to generate unnecessary controversial points I was just trying to point out that chicken can't be left longer than an hour or two unrefrigerated is all, even an hour is pushing it in hot weather. It is true not to be too trusting in refrigerated meat but even then any freshness you would have from butchered chicken on the day will soon be lost the longer it's left out as it starts to spoil. Just cos the chicken was butchered on the day means nothing at all if it's not stored correctly.

I think you were misunderstanding the point I was trying to make or maybe just missing it. I would try to not recommend chicken is ok if it's been out most of the day as good, that''s the kind of information that puts people in hospital.

[Alienescape]

Lol thanks for your guys' comments. My chicken didn't go bad at home, it came home with that smell/taste. I see your point about shopping early, I usually shop in early afternoon - that's my only available time really. One problem I find is you go to the market and the whole place smells kind of bad, so it can be difficult to tell if a chicken smells bad on site. It also feels really awkward trying to smell people's meat before buying it haha. But I guess I either have that option or spend more and buy at Tottus/the supermarkets. Thanks for the help.

[jumpinjack]

Dollars to doughnuts, I will bet the the chicken you see in the morning is the chicken that was not sold the day before.
BTW I never walked into an open air meat market that did not smell bad. It's usually 10 degrees warmer than outside furthering speeding up the up the food poisoning process.

[SilverbackPeru]

One problem I find is you go to the market and the whole place smells kind of bad, so it can be difficult to tell if a chicken smells bad on site. It also feels really awkward trying to smell people's meat before buying it haha.

Look for yellow or greying of colour in the meat. Raw chicken should be a nice pink colour.

[bigdaddy]

Lol .It also feels really awkward trying to smell people's meat before buying it haha. .

Yeah, When I buy people's meat, I try to hold my breath.

[jumpinjack]

A little off topic. Have you ever smelled the ground beef in metro? OMG!!! Looks great nice red color but the smell. I suggest you never smell it. Mash it into patties and bar b que it with close your eyes.