In Perugia, an Old Hen for Good Broth
“La gallina vecchia fa buon brodo,” (“an old hen makes a good broth”) says an old Italian adage, lauding the wisdom of a sage elderly woman. But an old hen does make the best broth as the meat of a young chicken will slip off the bones while the chicken pieces simmer with carrot, celery, half an onion and a small ripe tomato or two (added for color as well as flavor). My Sicilian husband, Pino, remembers that years ago, chicken broth was brought to the family of the deceased as the first food to eat after the funeral and burial of a loved one. After death – hopefully, in the family home, so that the women of the family can wash and dress the body – relatives sat all night with the deceased and relatives and friends would fill the house the next day. Burial was generally within forty-eight hours. Little to no food was eaten in the home during the mourning time before burial.
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