A winter favorite: The ‘Poule au Pot’, its recipe and history

A traditional French dish made popular by king Henry IV

Winter is coming, and with it the need for some warm comforting dishes! There is an old French traditional recipe that is called “Poule au pot”. Literally, this translates to “hen in the pot” in English. It is a perfect meal for a cold winter dinner. You can imagine this platter in the center of a wooden farm table, next to the fireplace, with an unforgettable smell in the air —like in one of the fabulous French venues we take you on our Bliss Travels trips!

Today we share with you the dish’s story, followed by its recipe…

The story of the “poule”:

The “good king” Henry the 4th made it famous in the XVIIth century as a solution to the famines following major religious wars. The “poule au pot” was, and still is, a very cheap and easily accessible meal.

The king, who was from Pau in the Southwest of France where hen was common, famously said:

“Si Dieu me donne encore la vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon Royaume qui n’est moyen d’avoir une poule dans son pot »

“Since God has spared my life, I will ensure that every peasant in my Kingdom has a hen in his pot”.

And from that moment, he made sure that every French family had a hen and some vegetables to make a proper meal, at least once a week.

The recipe:

For hen to be edible (and good!), it has to be cooked for a certain amount of time. But other than that, it is very simple to do:

-Place the hen in a pot with salted water, bring to a boil and skim.

-Add cut-up vegetables (2 onions, 3 leeks, 4 carrots, 5 turnips and some celery), as well as some thyme, rosemary, laurel (a.k.a bay) leaves and two cloves of garlic. Cover and leave it to cook for 2 to 2:30 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

- The meat must be tender and come off the bone. You can serve this with rice cooked in the broth. You can also make a creamy sauce to go with it: some cream, mushrooms and seasoning.

And voilà!

Bon Appétit.