Looking for a real chicken? Free range chickens, which have a more developed flavor than battery-farmed because they've scratched about in the earth as they are supposed to, are becoming increasingly available in supermarkets.

Yes, they are more expensive, but worth the price if you remember that before battery farming, a chicken was a special treat. And that to keep the price of battery-farmed chickens down, they live in intolerable conditions, going from egg to table in roughly only 48 days.

Regrettably, though, even among free range hens, quality can vary. Bell & Evans, that most readily available 'correct' brand, doesn't always have much flavor. Market Poultry, 202 543 7470, sells good free range chickens at Eastern Market, 7th & C Sts SE. So does Pam, the excellent butcher at Wagshal's, 4845 Massachusetts Ave NW, 202 363 0777. But call ahead to be sure of supplies.

If, when you get one home, you don't know how to joint it, here's an excellent photographic guide to cutting up a chicken.

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