Poultry

The most important thing with poultry is, whenever possible, to buy free-range or organic as the taste difference between them and their battery-raised cousins is vast. The same rule applies to ducks, pigeons and quail.

Many of my recipes call for chicken leg or duck with the bones in. I know that it can be a bit of a hassle to eat, but the flavour and texture is worth the effort; chicken cooks much moister on the bone. To me, it’s the real way of eating.

To be completely honest, I don’t really like chicken breast, except when roasted to perfection or, at a pinch, well poached. But give me a leg or a wing and I’ll chew on it all day. There is something very authentic about taking some chicken leg in your mouth, chewing it around and gently spitting the bone out.