Celebrating chicken’s central place in the world’s culinary repertoire, this book gathers more than 1,000 recipes along with anecdotes, stories, and trivia from every continent. The recipes span the entire spectrum from family celebrations to intimate dinners and quick snacks to street food, and include variations from restaurant-style preparations to traditional home cooking. For the home cook, this book is a tireless source of inspiration for how to prepare chicken.

Organized by region and country, each recipe comes with complementary recipes such as side dishes, sauces, condiments, or beverages, as well as alternate preparations and variations. Between the main recipes, their variations, and the sides, the book contains nearly 4,000 recipes. Of particular note is the marginalia that accompanies each recipe: historical anecdotes, information on particular chicken breeds or regional landraces, cultural information, and trivia—both serious as well as amusing.

Domesticated long ago, the chicken—which can still be found in the wild in India—joined humankind in spreading across the globe. It is ubiquitous, but it is also a culinary star—truly indispensable.