Kitchen Chickens


kitchen chickens

I do not suffer from a hoarding affliction. My husband and my children dread the times when I comb through the house, looking for something, anything that has not been used for two years or more. The item selected is then given to charity, recycled or tossed unless its rightful owner can convince me otherwise. Our home is almost always free of clutter.

We also have a minimalistic decorating style. I like style, but I don’t like a lot of stuff. That’s why I surprised myself a few years ago when window shopping at an import store, I bought a wooden rooster that was on sale for a handful of change, mainly because no one else wanted it. It’s not a lovely rooster. It’s not even remarkable except for a swirl of golden paint along its sides. It doesn’t go with anything else in the house, but I put it on a shelf in my kitchen, and there it sits to this day.

Chickens and kitchens seem to go together. There are chickens stitched onto tea towels and oven mitts, chicken timers, chicken egg baskets, chicken wall and shelf decor, chicken thermometers, chicken clocks, chicken salt and pepper shakers . . .

The letters in chicken nearly spell kitchen (minus the t and dropping a c: kichen). Please note that for the sake of argument I’m lumping hens, roosters, chicks and adolescent chickens in the same ultimate category called chicken.

Whiskers on kittens are one of my favorite things, as is The Sound of Music and its song “My Favorite Things.” But chickens in kitchens rank right up there. My kitchen wouldn’t be the same without my wooden rooster. Apparently a lot of people feel this way, and I think I might finally know why – it all comes back to a story, of course, as so many things do.

The Rooster of Barcelos is a Portuguese tale from the 15th century (though it may be much older) about a poor young man accused of a crime he did not commit. He asked for one chance to face the judge who condemned him and ask for mercy. The judge was dining with friends when the young man came into the house. A roasted rooster lay on the table ready to be eaten. The young man declared his innocence and told the judge that the rooster would crow at the hour of his execution. As the story goes, the rooster leaped up and crowed just before the young man was to be hanged. The execution was halted just in time.To this day in the city of Barcelos, images of the lucky rooster are found everywhere. Keeping a rooster handy in your dining area has been thought to be a good idea ever since.

I think it’s quite likely that the keeping of a rooster in the kitchen gave way eventually to the less aggressive hen (or generic chicken). My wooden rooster has the typical stance of a proud guy-about-the-hen-house. I wouldn’t mind a nice, laid back hen-a-laying egg timer, now that I come to think of it. I hear it could be lucky.

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12 responses to “Kitchen Chickens”

  1. Hmmm… never thought about it before, but you’re right. A chicken in the kitchen just seems right somehow.

    • It’s odd how these things creep up on us. Perhaps we should check our kitchens for hidden chickens.

  2. Hmmm… never thought about it before, but you’re right. A chicken in the kitchen just seems right somehow.

    • It’s odd how these things creep up on us. Perhaps we should check our kitchens for hidden chickens.

  3. We have a rooster in our kitchen too. It is a wire one that sits on top of our cupboards with all my collected baskets. I like it. How interesting about that story.

  4. We have a rooster in our kitchen too. It is a wire one that sits on top of our cupboards with all my collected baskets. I like it. How interesting about that story.

  5. I don’t currently have any chickens in my kitchen (i checked). HOWEVER, a while ago I bought a new set of tea towels – not that I really needed more (they are now in the closet), but something drew me to them. What’s on them? You got it – chickens!

  6. I don’t currently have any chickens in my kitchen (i checked). HOWEVER, a while ago I bought a new set of tea towels – not that I really needed more (they are now in the closet), but something drew me to them. What’s on them? You got it – chickens!