A flock of rotisserie chickens that beat Costco Wholesale's quality

Whole Foods Market in Paramus offers a naturally raised rotisserie chicken for $8.99 or two for $14.98. The 2-pound, antibiotic-free chickens are available plain, with salt and pepper, and Tandoori-style. Whole Foods also sells organic rotisserie chickens, but I didn't see any today. 

The ingredients label on Whole Foods' antibiotic-free Simple Rotisserie Chicken is short and sweet ("chicken, salt, pepper") compared to the many ingredients and additives -- listed and unlisted -- on rotisserie chickens from Costco Wholesale, ShopRite and other stores.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Costco Wholesale's rotisserie chickens probably are the biggest and cheapest around.

But if you are worried about consuming harmful animal antibiotics, you can do a lot better at Whole Foods Market, Kings, Fairway Market and even ShopRite.

At the Costco in Hackensack today, dozens of highly seasoned chickens were rotating on spits in two big rotisserie cases, and an employee was putting them in containers with the Kirkland Signature label.

Ingredients include sodium phosphate, modified food starch, potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar and dextrose.

There is no indication Costco chickens are vegetarian fed or raised without antibiotics or even who supplies them to the warehouse chain.

An employee said the chickens come from Pilgrim's Pride, which is based in North Carolina.

The Web site, which refers to the company as Pilgrim's, says its chickens are fed "only natural ingredients," including corn, soybean meal and other grains.

The company uses "3,900 family farmers in the U.S. and Mexico to grow chickens for our operations." 

But nowhere on the Web site does Pilgrim's say it bans the use of antibiotics to raise its chickens. 

At Kings Super Market in Hillsdale, large, antibiotic-free rotisserie chickens were $4.39 a pound. The label lists the time they were put under the lights, above, which is also the practice at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

What's in this chicken?

When my teenage son finished eating antibiotic-free rotisserie chicken from Kings in Hillsdale, he asked me where I had bought it.

I knew why he liked it: 

The ingredients label lists water, evaporated cane juice, sea salt, natural ingredients and native corn starch. 

At ShopRite in Paramus, low-quality Perdue and antibiotic-free Readington Farms rotisserie chickens are sold side by side.

Perdue rotisserie chickens are sold for $4.99 (35 ounces) and $6.99 (48 ounces). Antibiotic-free, vegetarian-fed Readington Farms chickens were $5.99 (35 ounces), but occasionally go on sale for $4.99.

An unseasoned kosher rotisserie chicken at ShopRite in Paramus was $3.99 a pound.

At ShopRite, a  lot of choice

Costco offers one rotisserie chicken, take it or leave it, but at ShopRite in Paramus, shoppers have a choice of three birds -- kosher, mystery Perdue and antibiotic-free Readington Farms.

Around lunchtime today, business was brisk at the store's kitchen counter, where the rotisserie chickens were displayed along with sandwiches and other prepared food.

Tables and chairs are provided for those who want to eat lunch in the store.

The kosher rotisserie chickens were displayed on an island in another section.

Fairway and Murray's Chickens

Years ago, I bought Murray's antibiotic-free rotisserie chickens at the Harlem branch of Fairway Market, which later opened a store in Paramus.

The store also sold conventional rotisserie chickens.

I shop for food a lot closer to home now and don't go to the Paramus Fairway much anymore, so I don't know how much they are.

The New York-style hype is a big turnoff. 

Murray's Web site says the drug-free chickens are raised in Pennsylvania, and are certified non-GMO.

At Costco's Hackensack store, the rotisserie chickens are big and cheap, but the ingredients label may stop you from actually buying one, below.

See:

Costco rotisserie chicken makes great dog food

Costco shoppers see red in undercooked chickens

Some like it hot

Image by saguayo via Flickr

That quick fish taco, scrambled eggs or just about anything else you're eating benefits from a liberal dose of hot and not-so-hot sauces.


We keep several around, notably salsa taquera (hot) -- a teaspoon or so does nicely on your fish taco (leftover fish, tortilla, salsa taquera and 30 to 45 seconds in the microwave). Goya and La Costena both sell salsa taquera, but I prefer the former.


We had haddock cooked in mild Mexican green sauce (salsa verde) for dinner last night, and I used some of the leftovers to make two fish tacos for breakfast, with salsa taquera. A third tortilla got a slice of muenster cheese and some salsa taquera, and 30 seconds in the microwave melted the cheese -- a quick, simple quesadilla.


One of the hottest sauces we use  is Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (the one with the green cap, made in California). You see this sauce on tables at Vietnamese restaurants, including Saigon R in Englewood, but it's really hot, so using too much can ruin your pho. My 13-year-old son loves this sauce on sandwiches.


My favorite all-around sauce is Valentina salsa picante -- thicker, smokier and not as hot as Tabasco-brand sauce and considerably cheaper (second from right in photo above). I buy Valentina in the 34-ounce bottle and use it liberally on eggs, omelets and Jamaican ackee and saltfish. In a pinch, you can use Valentina on your tacos.


H Mart in Little Ferry and other Korean supermarkets carry a dizzying array of hot pepper paste -- the dipping sauce for barbecue or dumplings. They are both spicy and sweet. I usually select one based on a lower price.


Another alternative to Tabasco is Grace-brand hot pepper sauce from Jamaica, marked "very hot," which uses Scotch bonnet or capsicum peppers. A far milder Grace sauce is Fish & Meat Sauce, made with tomato paste, mango puree, cane sugar and cane vinegar.


Mexican and Jamaican sauces are available at Hackensack Market on Passaic Street. ShoRite also carries some Mexican sauces.

Looking for bargains at Whole Foods

Image by Matt Stratton via Flickr

Before I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Whole Foods Market in Paramus on Friday, I walked through the store looking for sale items. (See earlier post, "A beautiful rotisserie chicken").

There are some incredibly high-priced items, such as one liter of extra-virgin olive oil from Sicily for $27.99. sold under the label of a restaurant, Frankies 457 in Brooklyn. I asked a couple of employees how much of that goes to organized crime. A 32-ounce bottle of Rao's marinara sauce was on sale for $7.99 -- you save $3. I passed on both.

Did you know artisinal pasta is made in New Jersey? Two pounds of dried pasta from Westmont, N.J., was on sale for $6. Whole Foods' wonderful dried organic pasta from Italy wasn't on sale, unfortunately. It was $1.99 a pound.

I needed cilantro (photo) for tacos (my wife found none at ShopRite in Englewood). An organic bunch was $1.69, which seemed reasonable. When I got home, I chopped it up immediately and put it it a container with chopped white onion -- the classic taco garnish used in Mexico. I have found cilantro lasts far longer when combined with onion. (See earlier post, "Lamb tacos in 45 seconds").

A hot sauce that won't break the bank

The spiciest version of Valentine Mexican Hot Sauce carries a black label.

After we moved to Hackensack in 2007, we discovered a wonderful, mid-size ethnic market not far from home, Hackensack Market on Passaic Street.

We love hot sauces and found Valentina Salsa Picante among the store's wide selection of Hispanic and Jamaican products. 

We started buying small bottles and even brought some back from Mexico last year. 

This red sauce is thicker and far less expensive than Tabasco from Louisiana, so you can use it liberally. 

This month, I brought home a liter bottle of Valentina, 34 ounces for a mere $1.99. The regular price is $2.49. 

Hackensack Market is at 120 Passaic St., 201-996-9177.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON