Capon : Christmas recipes and curiosities

Traditional Christmas recipes: Christmas capon

Stuffed capon in jelly is a wonderful way to introduce friends and family to something different this Christmas. And if you have already thought of an alternative for the Christmas menu, giving friends or relatives a box to prepare this super tasty recipe is the perfect solution for a genuine gift with 100% Italian meat.

What is capon?

Most people know this famous Christmas dish, but not everyone knows the secret ingredient: capon.

The capon is a male chicken that has been castrated at an early age. While not a particularly ancient breed of chicken, the capon has been around for thousands of years. In fact, most historians believe that the first capons were created in ancient Greece and Rome.

It was originally bred to provide white meat to the upper class, who considered it "more delicate and healthy". Their size is generally double that of a regular chicken, with all the meat concentrated in the breast and thigh muscles. For this reason, capons have become a delicacy in many countries around the world.

If you want to get one, make sure you buy it from a good butcher who knows how to prepare it correctly, otherwise it will be useless!

The Christmas box for the Christmas capon

Carne Genuina has enclosed all the goodness of this meat in a super delicious Christmas box. The Christmas Capon Box is our proposal for Christmas 2022 and includes the fundamental ingredients for cooking a sumptuous stuffed capon, a typical dish of the Italian Christmas holidays.

In the tasting box you will find:

• 1 whole capon, 1.5 / 2 kg
• 1 Luganega sausage, 500 g
• 1 minced meat from adult beef, 500 g

The local Golden Comet Capon has the particularity of being a castrated free-range chicken, raised for at least 6 months, with firm and delicious meat, particularly suitable for all the slow and complex cooking typical of the tasty holiday recipes.

Capon-based recipes Capon recipes can be found everywhere on the Internet, but there are some that stand out for their particular taste.

French capon

If you're looking for an easy recipe to try with your capon, consider this classic French dish:

Remove the skin from two capons and cut them into 6 pieces each.

In a large bowl, combine 1 tablespoon flour, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add the chicken pieces and shake until well coated in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place each piece of chicken into the hot oil, one at a time; don't get crowded!

Fry for about 8 minutes per side or until golden brown on both sides, then remove from heat when finished cooking without burning the edges or bottom! Let cool before serving hot with fresh breadsticks as garnish and extra sauce.

Capon stuffed with sausage

The secret is all in the filling. You can choose to use only good sausage or also add some minced meat.

We take the sausage, remove the skin and place it in a bowl with the minced meat. We combine an egg, some chopped pistachios - or almonds - and 2/3 slices of bread or stale bread soaked in milk.

We add all the aromas we want to the filling: sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix everything well to make a homogeneous mixture.

Let's now oil the inside of the capon and put our filling. We try not to overfill it to avoid it breaking. We close with kitchen twine and also bring the thighs and wings together.

Brush the skin with melted butter and bake for about 2 and a half hours at 180°. Check the cooking and add some meat broth or wine if it dries out too much.

Once ready, remove from the oven, let cool, cut into slices and serve with mashed potatoes or vegetables of your choice.

Capon in jelly

The recipe for capon in jelly is not very different from those we have just presented. In fact, the difference is made by the jelly that we are going to prepare and serve together. After cooking or boiling it, we will present the slices in a different and very tasty way.

There is a secret for preparing gelatinous capon that has been passed down through generations of cooks. This secret recipe involves boiling the capon in wine and aromatic herbs (cloves, rosemary and bay leaves) which give an extraordinary flavor to the broth that we are going to gelatinise.

Finally, soften 30 g of gelatine sheets in cold water, drain and dissolve with the defatted capon broth, add it to the remaining broth and pour everything over the meat. Let it solidify in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Can you eat jellied capon jelly?

The answer is a resounding yes. It is delicious and its flavor is different from that of other jellied meats. In fact, this type of jelly was once so popular that people paid high prices for it at Christmas time!

If you are looking for something different this Christmas, then consider preparing capon in jelly.