I like chicken. It’s that perfect, portable food. You can run around your balcony with one. Try that with a cow or wild boar.
It’s easy to buy the pieces of chicken you want in an Italian supermarket. If you’re unlucky, there will be those vile Styrofoam trays with their pieces of chicken, all wrapped up in plastic so that if they’re rotten you won’t smell them. If you’re lucky, there will be chicken pieces nicely arranged that you can ask for.
The chicken here is amazing. You can get all kinds, from trussed chickens (chicken made into a bag: Pollo alla busta) to chicken legs that you roast and when it’s cooked the fat renders and the skin is like the most delicate parchment. The difference between industrial chicken in Italy and industrial chicken in the US is immeasurable.
If you want to buy from your trusty butcher, you’ll need words. We have them for you in our latest interactive shopping primer: Buying Chicken in Italy – How to Buy Chicken in an Italian Market