30899 Tue Aug 17 21:10:24 -0700 2004 19 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 134043 Friends said they are the best in town. Is it true? That they use corn-fed range chickens resulting in crispy, succulent, and heavenly smelling grilled chickens. They are at farmers market all over Bay Area. Link: http://www.roliroti.com Tue Aug 17 21:10:24 -0700 2004 0 Food Fan 1 134045 I would be suspicious of a corn fed range chicken. Tue Aug 17 22:05:10 -0700 2004 134043 0 Bung 2 134073 They're fed a corn and soybean meal, according to the producer's website, but what's suspicious about corn? At least you know they aren't cannibal chickens. Wed Aug 18 02:05:51 -0700 2004 134045 0 Gary Soup 3 134075 I think the point is that if they're "range" chickens they're probably eating all kinds of things -- chickens are insectivores. You can have free range or you can have a controlled diet, but you can't have both. Wed Aug 18 02:23:24 -0700 2004 134073 0 Ruth Lafler 4 134082 Chickens are omnivores, essentially scavengers. My grandmother fed her layers with kitchen scraps, virtually anything you'd put in the disposal. Birds will forage for insects when there's nothing else available, but it would be completely impractical to try to raise full-grown chickens on the natural insect populace alone. BTW, have you ever seen a pigeon or a seagull turn down a french fry? Wed Aug 18 11:42:16 -0700 2004 134075 0 Gary Soup 5 134091 Sorry, what I meant to say was that chickens, when allowed to run free, will eat insects -- I didn't mean to imply that they only eat insects. I've seen pigeons eat almost anything -- including chicken! Wed Aug 18 12:39:45 -0700 2004 134082 0 Ruth Lafler 6 134120 Well, my grandmother's chickens ate chicken, what little was left after soup. My point was that chickens, organic, free-range or whatever, are fed grain as a staple and I didn't understand the poster's problem with corn. Wed Aug 18 23:35:21 -0700 2004 134091 0 Gary Soup 7 134125 Well, How would you feel about corn fed wild alaskan salmon being promoted as somehow better than the kind that eats (icky) little fish and bugs. Thats where I'm coming from I guess. Its the labeling that bugs me. Thu Aug 19 03:19:44 -0700 2004 134120 0 Bung 3 134096 Ruth is correct, I was referring to the fact that Free Range birds were getting fed a 'diet' probably meant they weren't that free or ranged very little. Subsequent googling indicates that there are indeed birds marketed as free range corn fed. That doesn't make them good, or for that matter it doesn't make them fit my definition of free range any more than I consider bowling ball chickens trucked from Arkansas to be 'fresh' even though the USDA tells me they are. Disclaimer : I have never had roliroti chicken. I tend to find most rotiserrie chicken excellent no matter what kind of chicken is used. Wed Aug 18 14:16:51 -0700 2004 134073 0 Bung 1 134048 I don't know what they are fed, but I bought some at the Sausalito Farmer's Market a week ago and they were delicious! Tue Aug 17 22:30:12 -0700 2004 134043 0 julied 1 134049 I would agree with those who say these are the best of the rotisserie chickens, at least those I have tried. (Gira Poli is second, IMO.) The chickens used are Fulton Valley chickens from Santa Rosa, and I have found them also the tastiest for my own home-cooked--get the big roasters, stuff'em with lemons and rosemary and maybe garlic, and do 'em on the Weber. Guy who started RoliRoti is from Switzerland and imported the truck from Germany. He now has several of them. Herbs are his Swiss grandmother's recipe (which changes my view of Swiss cuisine) and the aroma is hard to resist wafting on the farmer's market breezes. They have added roasted potatoes to their menu and I really liked them. The potatoes are quartered and put on the grill under the rotisserie where the herbed chicken juices drip on them while they cook. Not for either cholesterol or carbohydrate phobes. Whole chickens are $11, and you get a lime to squeeze over it; potatoes are $5 for a generous serving. Now about the huge plastic chicken on top of his trucks...... Tue Aug 17 22:30:29 -0700 2004 134043 0 Al@Fairfax 2 134053 Went to the farmers market last saturday. we tried just the potatoes. They were so saturated with Rosemary that we could hardly taste the potato itself. Maybe we just hit a day where they doused to much rosemary on the taters. Tue Aug 17 23:44:07 -0700 2004 134049 0 originaljoe 3 134100 I also went on Saturday, and had the "over-rosemaried" potatos...and I found the chicken texture to be dry-mealy...almost "cottony". Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what do I have to ask for to avoid it? Wed Aug 18 15:52:29 -0700 2004 134053 0 ChowFun (derek) 2 134087 I was told they used Rockies and Rosies from Petaluma Poultry, though their website seems to contradict this. On the other hand, I don't believe Fulton Valley produces certified organic chickens, so perhaps they use both. Wed Aug 18 12:25:46 -0700 2004 134049 0 Gary Soup 1 134080 definitely one of the best i've tried. the fresh lime to squeeze on it is a nice touch. Wed Aug 18 11:16:42 -0700 2004 134043 0 vespaloon 1 134081 At most of the Roli Roti locations, you can purchase either half or whole chickens -- $6.00 per half, and $11.00 for whole. For a few dollars more, you can get "organic" versions. I have tried each on three occasions and have yet to notice a discernable difference between the organic and non-organic. Not sure what the chickens are fed besides corn, but I do know they are addicting -- especially when consumed avec the potato wedges that have absorbed the rosemary-infused juices when grilled underneath the birds on the spits. The first time I tried Roli Roti was the SF Ferry Building location. I remember it well. It was Christmas time last year. I was supposed to be out buying a wreath from the flower market there, but I never made it past the Roli Roti chicken cart. Tried a few bites, and the next thing I knew I found myself in the "Betty Ford Clinic for Recovering Rotisserie Chicken Addicts". Of course I dropped out after the 5th of 12 steps. In fact, considering that my former office was only 342 steps from the Ferry Building, the program only served to bring me 5 steps closer to my next weekend rotisserie chicken purchase -- but what a delicious walk it was (and continues to be). Wed Aug 18 11:30:06 -0700 2004 134043 0 wedgeheadjunkie 2 134188 Simply the best rostisserie chicken I have ever had. How can anyone resist this stuff, when just passing by and catch that aroma? "not me baby" P.S. the lime makes it the "coup de grace" Sun Sep 05 11:38:54 -0700 2004 134081 0 Jerry Williams 1 134101 These was an article in the S.F. Chronicle about the best chicken (roast, rotisserie, or baked) while ago that I read. Contrary to the thread of messages regarding Mistral Rotisserie Provencale, this was ranked as one of the best, while RoliRoti was in the 3rd tier category. I have tasted RoliRoti chicken and really enjoyed it, but did not care for the Cost version my husband brought back home, so just like anything else, there're always varied opitions. Anyway, here is the link to the S.F. Chronicle article for you to read - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/25/FDG5Q55A6M1.DTL&type=food Wed Aug 18 16:00:04 -0700 2004 134043 0 Yuko 2 134110 And for the cut-and-paste impared... Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/25/FDG5Q55A6M1.DTL&type=food Wed Aug 18 17:23:23 -0700 2004 134101 0 Paul H 1 134169 They're really good, but I can't compare them to any others because I haven't had any others. Where do the others appear? What are they called? Mon Aug 23 23:17:15 -0700 2004 134043 0 Kim Cooper