Chicken Lab
The Low Food Lab, in collaboration with Flevo Campus, creates new culinary products and techniques to encourage fairer, healthier, and more sustainable eating habits. The lab collaborates with diverse experts, including chefs, artisans, scientists, and students, to find innovative culinary solutions for food-related challenges.
One of the projects involved using chicken parts, which are often discarded. Chicken farmer Johan Leenders has been striving to repurpose his whole chicken, the Oranje Hoen and sell it at a price that reflects its quality and taste. A significant portion of the chicken is downgraded, as only 40% (consisting of breasts, thighs, and drumsticks) is typically used by consumers. The remaining 60% is considered low-grade chicken and is either exported to Africa (with all its consequences) or used as animal feed due to the lack of demand from consumers over here.
The lab has collaborated with several partners and experts to address this issue. However, due to the efficiency of the slaughterhouse, it is challenging to make changes to the system. For example, it is challenging to remove specific parts of the chicken without disrupting the hygiene system. Therefore, it was impossible to work with feathers or chicken feet. The process determines which parts are worthwhile and which aren’t, depending on the demand.
The lab has collaborated with several partners and experts to address this issue. However, due to the efficiency of the slaughterhouse, it is challenging to make changes to the system. For example, it is challenging to remove specific parts of the chicken without disrupting the hygiene system. Therefore, it was impossible to work with feathers or chicken feet. The process determines which parts are worthwhile and which aren’t, depending on the demand.
Participating in the lab, Billie van Katwijk utilised chicken skins to create leather and developed bone china clay using chicken bones. Billie: “I enjoy working with low-value or ‘invisible’ materials to see what can be done with them. Seeing how an industry operates intrigues me. Glimpsing the hidden world behind a product like the Oranjehoen makes me wonder what design could do to give the hidden world – their existence all but forgotten by consumers – a purpose and beauty. At the slaughterhouse, I was struck by how a system is maintained that determines which products are valuable and which are worthless.”
Skin
Billie made leather from the chicken skins. The preserved skin shows a symmetrical pattern, like reptilian leather. On the back of the chicken skin, you can see where the wings were and where large quills once sat embedded in the skin.
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Billie made leather from the chicken skins. The preserved skin shows a symmetrical pattern, like reptilian leather. On the back of the chicken skin, you can see where the wings were and where large quills once sat embedded in the skin.
Bones
We can’t eat bones. They will always be a leftover material from meat consumption. Chefs Isaac and Jerrey provided the bones from which they had drawn broth. After cleaning the bones, they were fired to incinerate the organic material, a process not unlike cremation. Billie made bone china clay with bone ash as a main component. The shape of the egg out of clay references the bones' beginning. Billie currently develops tableware from chicken bone porcelain for a restaurant with the Oranjehoen on the menu.
We can’t eat bones. They will always be a leftover material from meat consumption. Chefs Isaac and Jerrey provided the bones from which they had drawn broth. After cleaning the bones, they were fired to incinerate the organic material, a process not unlike cremation. Billie made bone china clay with bone ash as a main component. The shape of the egg out of clay references the bones' beginning. Billie currently develops tableware from chicken bone porcelain for a restaurant with the Oranjehoen on the menu.
Team Chicken Lab:
Chef and Head of Lab Jerrey Gontscharoff collaborated with a diverse group of experts: Sharon de Miranda (chef at Food Forum), Ivana Mik (fermentation specialist), Billie van Katwijk (designer), Isaac van Elden (broth specialist). This Lab was to be the first to feature a collaboration with experts from outside the food chain. Working with various disciplines, the team concentrated on chicken parts rarely or never eaten in the Netherlands. The publication of the lab results can be found here.
Chef and Head of Lab Jerrey Gontscharoff collaborated with a diverse group of experts: Sharon de Miranda (chef at Food Forum), Ivana Mik (fermentation specialist), Billie van Katwijk (designer), Isaac van Elden (broth specialist). This Lab was to be the first to feature a collaboration with experts from outside the food chain. Working with various disciplines, the team concentrated on chicken parts rarely or never eaten in the Netherlands. The publication of the lab results can be found here.