When I was a child, my mother introduced to me the concept of white and dark meat in poultry. She explained to me that generally dark meat tasted better and was the more desirable type of meat. I was also told that for some reason, white people loved their white meat and would always choose that over dark meat. I quickly learned for myself that I indeed did prefer dark meat in poultry. Dark meat has a nice texture to it. It has a moistness to it that makes it really easy to appreciate. I really don’t like eating white meat. I find the white meat in poultry to be dry and tough. It’s like having a mouthful of dry fibers.
What surprises me is that you usually have to pay more for white meat compared to dark meat. At KFC, there’s an extra charge if you want your entire bucket to be white meat. That’s crazy. Who would actually pay extra to get the tougher and drier meat? I guess it’s a matter of personal preference but the difference in the two types of meat is so drastic, I’m just having a difficult time figuring out why one would choose the chewy and dry meat. As a further argument, dark meat contains more vitamins and nutrients compared to white meat.
For some people, eating white meat is more “proper” in terms of table manners. No bones and cartilage to rip apart. My friend, who hails from the St. Lucia, grew up masticating dark meat from the bone, and still eats this way, as do us Asians. You should see the look of horror his Caucasian wife has when we chomp into the Christmas turkey.
Weird, I’ve never heard of the preference of white meat because of table manners. You can eat dark meat with utensils too!