Here are two examples from my life.


Example 1: Chicken breasts are cheaper than thighs in Japan, because Japansee people care more about flavor. In America, breasts are more expensive than thighs because of the color and the lower fat content.


Example 2: In Japan, ground pepper is normally white, not black. Black ground pepper is expensive and fancy. In America, black pepper is normal, and white pepper is expensive and fancy. I have no idea why.


Anyone have any others? I love this sort of stuff.

Polenta and Grits. One is $20 in NYC the other is $2 in Mississippi.

 

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Do you really think it's the health consciousness or do you think that Americans are more "coddled" with respect to their food and just want something that they don't have to skin and debone? Anyway...

I don't have anything to add because I don't really know too much about differences in costs for day to day life in other countries - never having been more than a visiting traveler to any besides the US.

 

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Breasts cost more than thighs whether they're deboned and skinned or not. At least here in SF. Japan being the opposite.


I was just speculating about the reason. The only things I can think of are the color and the lower fat content. Because thighs are just better flavorwise.


It would be interesting to see how things were 50-60 years ago and if breasts were still more expensive in America then too.

I love thighs over breasts if I can get them. The butcher I go to has them now de-boned which makes cooking easier but not as tasty. Certain things you need breasts for. Chicken parm for example. I just made some this weekend and man was it good!

 

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I agree that they're more costly regardless, and also that they are less flavorful... but per unit mass, they've got more meat to bone/gristle too...

Incidentally, you don't need chicken breast for any chicken dish really - you can bone out a chicken thigh and pound it flat for breading too...

 

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I like breasts for breading just because of the lower fat content. If you're dredging something in flour and frying it you may as well use something that isn't too fatty to begin with.

If you fry properly you don't add a lot of fat to things - it's all about temperature control - most people lack the knowledge of how to achieve this with conventional household kitchen equipment. That said, though, you do have a point with respect to flavor - no sense breading up a juicy delicious thigh and covering the flavor of it with bread crumbs and stuff - might as well just use a breast because at that point it's about texture of the meat being breaded.

 

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It depends how much breading and what sort. The fat from deep frying comes from the breading. If you use fine breading you won't add too much fat. If you use breading with lots of texture for the oil to seep into you'll add a lot of fat.

I tend to cut breasts in half and fry them in olive oil. A lot of Italian dishes involve that simple process. Chicken Parm the most obvious example. I would never do that with thighs.


Breasts are better suited for certain dishes so it may not be as simple as the idea that one is more tasty than the other. Demand could be pushed by what people like to cook. Sandwiches are also usually breast meat.

 

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