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Chickens run wild all throughout the island of Kauai. We saw them from the moment we left the airport and on through the rest of our time there. They were on the sides of the roads, in backyards, even along the side of a waterfall that we hiked a mile to get to. And you can hear the roosters crowing nearly everywhere.

The locals call them 'Jungle Fowl" It's unclear exactly how they came to be so prolific, but most of the stories we heard indicated that the population skyrocketed after Hurricane Iniki in 1992. The most plausible involved cock-fighting birds that were freed in the havoc the storm wrought.

Regardless, I found myself inspired by all this wandering poultry. Between that and my vacation reading of "My Life in France," I find myself wanting to try my hand at Coq au Vin.