Dark Meat

In Crossing Over to the Dark Side MARK BITTMAN says, Michel Richard, the chef at Citronelle in Washington, says,

"In France, of course, most people think dark meat is better."

In many other parts of the world, too, which explains why more than 30 percent of the dark chicken meat produced in the United States is exported ¡ª up to $1 billion worth in some years. The rest of it is sold domestically, often at bargain prices.

...it is because legs have more fat that they taste better. "Breast meat is 99 percent white fiber muscle," said Casey M. Owens, an assistant professor of poultry science at the University of Arkansas, "and white fibers store a great deal of glycogen, which is used for short bursts of energy." In chickens, that means wing-flapping. "Darker muscles, like those found in the leg, are for endurance. They carry more oxygen and myoglobin, which is largely responsible for their color," Dr. Owens said.

"Darker muscles also have a higher amount of fat," he added, "and flavor compounds are typically fat soluble." Because of the muscles in chicken legs, they contain some "seam" fat, which adds flavor.

Dark meat may have four times as much fat as white, but the absolute numbers are still low compared with many cuts of red meat. For a compromise between flavor and fat content, you cannot do much better than leg meat, which is suitable for all forms of cooking.