It's a food which would more commonly be served up at Michelin-starred restaurants.

Eastern Daily Press: Roast marinated poussin. Pic Clifford Hicks.Roast marinated poussin. Pic Clifford Hicks.

But, if enough volunteer cooks can be found, homeless people in Norwich could soon be enjoying a taste of poussin.

Great Ryburgh-based Norfolk Quail has just launched its new poussin product.

Poussin is a butcher's term for a young chicken which is less than 28 days old when it is slaughtered.

With new machinery just installed, Norfolk Quail just produced the first sample bath.

Eastern Daily Press: Jamie Archer at Archer's Butchers on Plumstead Road in Norwich with the poussin which is hoped will be cooked and distributed to the homeless. Picture: Lauren De BoiseJamie Archer at Archer's Butchers on Plumstead Road in Norwich with the poussin which is hoped will be cooked and distributed to the homeless. Picture: Lauren De Boise (Image: Archant 2019)

But because the machine set-up has had to be adjusted, the earliest samples, while completely edible, are not suitable to be sent to top restaurants.

Rather than see the meat go to waste, Norfolk Quail owners Ellie and John Savory decided to see if the 380 birds could go to a good cause.

So Katie Fielder, who does the social media marketing for Norfolk Quail, drove the 38 boxes, each containing 10 birds, home to Norwich in the back of her car.

She approached Archer's butchers in Plumstead Road, who kindly agreed to put them in their refrigerated storage over the weekend.

Eastern Daily Press: Jamie Archer at Archer's Butchers on Plumstead Road in Norwich with the poussin which is hoped will be cooked and distributed to the homeless. Picture: Lauren De BoiseJamie Archer at Archer's Butchers on Plumstead Road in Norwich with the poussin which is hoped will be cooked and distributed to the homeless. Picture: Lauren De Boise (Image: Archant 2019)

That will give Ms Fielder the chance to figure out what can be done with them all - and enlist some further help.

She said: "Norfolk Quail has just introduced poussin as a new product and at the same time they have had new equipment installed.

"Because of a few glitches, the first samples which came through were not suitable to be sent to chefs.

"Rather than waste them, we thought we'd see if we could get them out to people who could put them to good use.

"We're hoping we can find people who are prepared to store them in their refrigerators and people who might be prepared to cook them."

The birds have a shelf life until Friday, November 29.

UPDATED: All of the boxes have now been taken