Life

A kapunjera, from the Venetian caponera (chicken coop), was a small urban henhouse. In times when no one worried about the cholesterol in eggs, chickens roamed freely in courtyards on the town’s outskirts, fearing only the oven or the stew pot. But city hens led a different life – confined to hidden kapunjeras, out of sight of passersby. Occasionally, one would escape and flutter into the narrow alley (kala), only to eventually end up as tingul, a traditional chicken stew. Until then, their eggs were a vital source of nourishment for frail children. Where kapunjeras once stood, there are now apartments. The clucking still echoes through the town, though the hens are no longer to blame.