 For thousands of years, a number of different kinds of chicken have been eaten across most of the Eastern hemisphere, including capons, pullets, and hens.It was one of the basic ingredients in "blancmange", a stew usually consisting of chicken and fried onions cooked in milk and seasoned with spices and sugar.In the United States in the 1800s, chicken was more expensive than other meats and it was "sought by the rich because [it is] so costly as to be an uncommon dish."