Blue collar chicken

 

Classic relatively make shift fried chicken stand

 

Cooked food availability can reveal a lot about a countries general economy. One example is examining the economics of chicken in a small village in Rufiji. There are several food options available in the village but only one specialized fried chicken place. They have a basic set up with two massive wok style charcoal powered frying station, a "display case", and then a food prep and serving area. They fry a bunch of chips before the chicken and put them in the display box. They also have the chickens, which are not local but rather the kigeni (foreign) type, which is a treat. 

The breast is the most expensive at 2,500 tsh ($1.07) a piece. Next comes the leg and thigh at 2,000 tsh (86 cents) a piece. The neck is pre-fried due to the demand. The neck is 800 tsh (34 cents) while the head and feet are combined into a two-for-one 500 tsh (21 cents). Take a closer look at how they package the head and feet combo; gnarly! I spent a significant amount of time loitering around this stand over the course of a week. I observed the head/feet combos sell out the fastest, followed by the neck. There are a few customers that order the larger pieces, mainly people ordering them from their shop and having a runner deliver the food to them.

The place is not the most hygienic with all the mixing of the raw meat with the prepared meat. This is less of an issue for the breast and thigh as they are prepared immediately on a piece of wood. It's difficult for a country like Tanzania to balance regulation and enterprise as most of these businesses have very little capital and extremely thin margins. There are also more permanent structures and restaurants that also serve fried chicken though there is also no promise of hygiene standards being enforced!

Full display of the product. Note the piece of wood in the upper left corner is used as a cutting board.

A little grotesque how they package the feet and head but it does seem practical.