Chicken Fricot
On this page, we're sharing our most beloved French-Canadian, Acadian and Québécois dishes : classics from grand-maman. Here is a classic Acadian dish called the chicken fricot.
Classic chicken fricot with dumplings
Fricot is a classic Acadian stew that is still made today. It typically consists of meat, vegetables, savory and topped with fluffy dumplings. I've been told by an Acadian friend that, in no uncertain terms, "if there's no savory, it's not a fricot".
According to the 1849 Dictionnaire du patois normand (Dictionary of Norman dialect), the word fricot means "festin" or a feast, perhaps derived from the Iceland word Fryg, meaning pleasure. From fricot, we get the Old French verb "fricoter", to feast.
In days past, a large chicken fricot would be the dish of choice for special occasions. An older chicken would be preferable, leaving the younger chickens to lay their eggs. Other meats could also be used, such as rabbit, beef, pork or even clams.
A common Acadian expression is "Au fricot!", meaning "let's eat!".
Dumplings:
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
½ cup cold water
Fricot:
1 whole chicken, cut into large pieces
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
12 cups water
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp summer savory
5 cups potatoes, cut into thumb-sized pieces
In a hot large pot, cook the chicken pieces in butter until golden brown on all sides. Remove the chicken and set aside. In the same pot, sauté the onion, carrots and celery, adding more butter if needed. Add the water, chicken, salt, pepper and savory. Simmer until the chicken is tender. Add the potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes.
To make the dumplings, mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Gradually add the cold water. Using a spoon, drop the dumpling mixture into the fricot one spoonful at a time about 7 minutes before the fricot is ready to be served. Keep covered — no peeking while the dumplings are cooking!