Dirty chicken: a staple dish in Honduran culture. Source: BuenProvecho.
As an international student, I avidly seek to bring out my home country’s bright sides. Honduras is a nation full of wonders, including beaches with turquoise waters, ancient Mayan ruins, seemingly never-ending jungles, and a fascinating gastronomic culture like no other. Some of Honduras’s best dishes are baleadas (filled wheat flour tortillas), sopa de caracol (conch snail soup), and torrejas con miel (bread with syrup) (Nomad Paradise, 2021). Nonetheless, there is one dish that is unequivocally the best in the country: pollo chuco, which directly translates to dirty chicken. The history, origin, sustainability, and evolution of the dirty chicken in Honduras are as enthralling as they are delicious.
According to Forbes Magazine, ancient DNA explains how chickens got to the Americas. Forbes states that “the origins of chicken and its importation into the New World are somewhat murky” (Forbes, 2017). Chickens were first domesticated in Asia. They were then exported to Europe and Oceania. We have observed that chickens are not a migratory species and cannot swim or fly such as other animals do, meaning that they were brought to the Americas by humans. Dutch and Portuguese slave traders brought them from Africa, while some came from Polynesia prior to Columbus (Forbes, 2017). Since chickens were already part of pre-Columbian Central America, they were already part of Honduran’s diets.
It is estimated that the demand for chicken in Honduras’s local market is 640,000 parts per day and each consumer spends an average of $3.33 on each purchase (Central America Data, 2020). In retrospect, this is a very high amount, given that Honduras’s average daily minimum wage is $7.48 (MinimumWage.org). The poultry business in Honduras continues growing by the day because the country’s population and disposable income continue growing. Enormous facilities that grow thousands of chickens daily feed most of the population, while small farmers meet the needs of small rural communities throughout the country’s regions.
Some of the big companies in charge of producing most of the country’s poultry products include Cargill and Pollo Rey. They own large slots of land where they raise thousands of chickens, and, through vertical integration, process the meat themselves. They then sell the meat in supermarkets and small grocery stores in the urban regions of Honduras. Small farmers in rural areas of the country raise chickens and sell them at the local market. Because most farmers cannot afford buying chicken feed, most of these chickens are grass-fed and pasture-raised. In order to support their communities, people who live in these areas buy locally. This is a smart, yet sustainable system because it uses resources efficiently and avoids high levels of carbon emissions due to transportation while supporting local communities. Whenever we compare all meats and try to rank them from best to worst for the environment, chicken ranks number one. In a study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, “researchers found chicken is the most sustainable choice out of all the different types of meat” (Brightly, 2022).
A national survey in 2020 found that 75% of Hondurans preferred fried chicken over roasted or grilled chicken (Central America Data). These statistics align to the fact that, as mentioned previously, dirty chicken is one of the favorite and most common dishes in Honduras. The traditional dish “pollo chuco” literally means “dirty chicken.” “Chuco” is slang for “sucio”. This might scare some first-time consumers, but worry not: the chicken is not actually dirty. It is called dirty chicken because it is sold on the streets of San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras. The city even celebrates National Pollo Chuco Day every 18th of January (BuenProvecho). The dish consists of fried plantain chips topped by cabbage and two crunchy fried chicken pieces and lots of dressing sauces to spice it up.
Living alone for the first time in a new country has been a challenge for me. Even though I love living in the United States, I always think of my home country and loved ones. Whenever I think of home, I think of three things: my family, my friends, and my food. Food is an essential piece of culture that helps you connect to your roots. Thankfully, I found a Honduran food truck in Austin that sells dirty chicken and, whenever I feel homesick, I go there. Dirty chicken makes me feel at home.
Pollo chuco is a great option for grabbing a quick lunch during lunch break. Source: BuenProvecho.
Blog post by Edgar Reyes
Bibliography
Honduras minimum wage rate 2022. Federal and State Minimum Wage Rates for 2022. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.minimum-wage.org/international/honduras#:~:text=Honduras’%20Minimum%20Wage%20is%20the,(36.68%20lempiras%20per%20hour.)
Killgrove, K. (2017, November 23). Ancient DNA explains how chickens got to the Americas. Forbes. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2017/11/23/ancient-dna-explains-how-chickens-got-to-the-americas/?sh=caf419d56dba
Paradise, A. N. (2021, July 1). 18 popular Honduran Foods you need to try. Nomad Paradise. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://nomadparadise.com/honduran-food/
Poultry business in Honduras. Información de Mercados en México – Market Data México. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/home/Poultry_Business_in_Honduras
San Pedro Sula Celebrará el Día Nacional del Pollo Chuco. Buen Provecho – Las mejores recetas de cocina. (2020, January 9). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://buenprovecho.hn/en-que-estamos/san-pedro-sula-celebrara-el-dia-nacional-del-pollo-chuco/#:~:text=El%20pollo%20chuco%20como%20popularmente,calles%20de%20San%20Pedro%20Sula.
Your guide to sustainable meat: The best (and worst) options for the planet. Brightly Eco. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://brightly.eco/blog/environmental-impact-of-meat#:~:text=In%20a%20study%20conducted%20by,%2C%20and%20pasture%2Draised%20labels.