Instructions
The last time I saw a bird tied up properly, I was in my early twenties and hanging out in the kind of clubs that would make even the rowdiest delinquent blush.
That heady era, you’ll be relieved to know, is well behind me. But the collected set of skills in knot-tying I gathered has stood me in good stead in subsequent years. At times it can pose a problem, however, explaining how one comes to acquire such boutique knowledge – Dutch Marine Bowlines, Tucked Double Overhands, and Lineman’s Loops to name a few. Usually I put it down to Sea Scouts and a passion for fishing – some white lies are just worth the Hail Mary’s.
But there are also perfectly honourable reasons for needing to strap a bird firmly, particularly a chicken. You see the breast meat and thigh meat of most poultry simply don’t cook in equal ways. It’s not just their colour difference that separates these cuts – the way in which their proteins respond to heat is also distinct.
The thigh is denser that the breast, and with its higher concentration of naturally-occurring fats (11% in thigh, 4% in breast) it responds more slowly to a frying pan or oven. The difference is not extreme, but potentially important as correct cooking makes poultry safe to eat.
As any good home cook knows, the roast chicken is done when the juices run clear at the hip, not from the breast.
But this means that the breast can be a little overcooked and dry by the time that the thigh has finished baking. And for chefs, this is not an acceptable problem. So some canny French pan-handlers set about perfecting a technique for bringing them more into line with one another.
As it turns out, the best way is to brine the bird for 24 hours prior to cooking, as this changes some of the chemical structure of the thigh meat, reducing its cooking temperature. But really, we hardly have time to cook at all these days, let alone to start dinner a night ahead
So a simpler technique was developed, involving nothing more than some kitchen string. By trussing the bird firmly, the physical pressure retained moisture in the breasts, allowing them to hold on a little longer while the thighs catch up.
Start with a 1½m piece of butchers’ twine and wrap the centre around the parson’s nose (the fatty bit at the tail). Go around the thigh, then loop around the body and secure around the breasts.
It’ll be the best chook you’ll ever try, that much I’ll guarantee. But more importantly, it could teach you a whole new set of potentially entertaining skills….maybe for after dinner.
Classic roast chicken with perfect stuffing