The Houdan hen: a true local mascot

Picoti picot, everyone was crazy about it

Few chickens can boast such a history! As early as the 14th ^century , its ancestors roamed the gardens of Houdan. But it was in the 19th ^and 20th ^centuries that it experienced phenomenal success: nearly 600,000 chickens were sold between 1872 and 1873, and millions each year at the beginning of the 20th ^century – it was the star of the henhouse! Its succulent flesh was highly prized, so sought after that during the poultry markets in Houdan, crates of chickens were piled high up to the first-floor windows ^of houses! And as a little anecdote, the sellers arriving from Mantes would pluck the chickens on the way, covering the road with this white down, which gave it the name "White Road."

Then its heyday passed, and after World War II ^, production plummeted. This was due to the decline of the breed, which was being bred to be larger and more profitable, but also to its competitors, particularly the local Faverolles chicken, which easily outperformed this lightweight! Worse still, the breed nearly disappeared. But fortunately, the few remaining specimens (especially abroad) saved it, and it has returned to the chicken coops of Houdan.

Picoti pecked, her letters of nobility she found again

Long considered a collector's item, the Houdan chicken is showcased every year at the Saint Matthew's Fair by the Yvelines Poultry, Rabbit, and Pigeon Breeders' Association (SACCY), which takes the opportunity to award prizes to the finest specimens. But it has also been making a comeback on dinner plates in recent years, thanks in particular to the Gastronomic Brotherhood of the Houdan Chicken and Pâté , which rediscovered the ancestral recipe for the famous pâté en croûte . Some breeders have also decided it's high time it returned to our palates, and it is now possible to find Houdan chickens for consumption. For even if it is less plump than before, its meat is still just as delicate and delicious.