BiziBB

I started a silly thread in OMNI, just for fun, but just in case anyone takes it serieously, I'm happy to discuss and learn about the uses of different parts of birds, in meals.

Can you say that you have tried all parts of a bird?
Not at once but in various dishes.

I don't know if I've had all of a bird's internal organs, so may have only tried the heart and liver. I've probably avoided the bird's head though maybe had the neck in soups. Chicken feet at Yum Cha were never that great, I confess.

In which cuisine or situations have you enjoyed the various parts of different fowl - and have you eaten your way around the whole bird?

thelark

I would really like to have l'ortolan. If anyone has had it, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on both the dish and establishment serving it.

mosburger

chicken - a country style restaurant near Sapporo, Japan with my back then host family. I do think no part was left out, and if something was not grilled or boiled we got to taste it in the soup that came last.

bensyd

I ate the beak of a deep fried whole pidgeon once at Golden Century in Chinatown in Sydney....

In my defence I was only 20 it was a dare and we had been drinking some rocket fuel based concoction.

LapLap

pigeons and chickens in Spain - as a child I loved pigeon hearts, but absolutely everything else was used from these birds which we'd kill ourselves, even the small eggs still inside the hens. I also liked chewing simmered chicken feet.

I imagine nearly every child in England has eaten every single part of a bird. Cheap meat means the mechanically reclaimed kind (more info here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1482140.stm). The wonderful irony to me is that the most finicky and fussy eaters are, unknowingly, the most adventurous eaters of them all.
Which is why the freezer sections of supermarkets are full of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZNdYhIr3Ts

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My father went on an inspection visit to a Turkey processing plant in England. A blind man had the task of tweaking off the testicles from the birds. These are considered a delicacy in some parts of Asia. I think these are the only parts of a bird I may not have had.

adamak

I tried every single part, including their nests.

I love chicken feet. Duck tongue is a delicacy. My grandma loves the butts (fatty). Grilled cartilages in Jse restaurants are good. Growing up, I was told to not waste anything. The animal was killed, at least do the honor of not throwing parts away. Although I must say, not a big fan of bird balls.

skchin

What about feathers?

LapLap

I've inhaled quite a few. Does that count?

Anyone who's eaten balut will have had the whole bird, beak, balls, feathers and all.

skchin

Is it good?

PTravel

I've had every part as well. I've got to say, though, that I don't care for duck tongue, though we have a friend who is crazy for them. However, I absoluely LOVE chicken feet -- my favorite dim sum.

work2fly

Yes, just don't look at what you're eating.

I wouldn't say it's something that I crave, but it seems to go well with a little chili and vinegar, especially after a few San Migs ^

Sunnyhere

When my Filipino friends would introduce me to other Filipinos, they would speak in Tagalog and point to me (with their lips, of course). Without fail, the first thing the newly introduced would say to me is: "You ate balut?" It's an instant in!^

finlandia

I've probably eaten every part of a chicken and every part of a duck while growing up amonst my Chinese and Japanese relatives. I favor deep-fried gizzards. Turkey tails are good, too - nice and fatty.

I want to try pheasant next.

Jazzop

If anyone knows where to get proper l'ortolan and wants to go Dutch on the meal, count me in! Ever since the Def Poultry Slam edition several years ago of This American Life, in which they chronicle the last meal of Francois Mitterand, I have wanted to try it.

To answer the OP, I imagine that eating chicken Vienna sausages would qualify.

bigguyinpasadena

My favorite part of the chicken are the"secret bits"of a roast bird that never make it to the table.
The"pope's nose" and the morsel that sits in a crevice of the thigh bone where it connects to the breast.
I have had feet and necks used to make tasty nutritious stocks when I was poor.The stocks would then be made into chickin and rice soup or some such thing.
And anyone who has had processed chicken(chicken hot dogs come to mind) has had most all of the bird-including pulverized bone meal.