Roast Chicken

I have written about roast chicken in at least two of my previous books. I’ve discussed it on my blog and on Twitter and on Instagram. I’ve published a recipe for roasting chicken that recommends, as a part of the recipe, sex with your partner. I’ve written about the roast chicken on behalf of chef Michael Symon. I channeled Thomas Keller’s version of roast chicken for his father, a story that opens the cookbook Bouchon. And I concluded a TEDx presentation in Cleveland with an image of a roast chicken, because it is an emblem of cooking, and of my personal conviction that cooking our own food and sharing it with one another, and appreciating this fundamental act for all that it is, might be a way toward a better understanding of how to live. And yet I’ve never told the whole story of a roast chicken from a purely practical standpoint.