My friends Barbara and Jon Beckmann described a chicken wrapped in clay that they ate in the 1960s in a Madrid, Spain restaurant: “It was an upscale place on Plaza Mayor, and it was pure theater.” Jon told me, “They brought this mass of baked clay out to the table, gave Barbara a silver mallet, and told her to break it open. Soon as she did we were hit by the wonderful aroma of chicken, truffles, foie gras, thyme, and cognac. The chicken wa
