Poulet rôti épicé

roast chicken 1The evening before I was to teach my first cooking class, I met two French friends for dinner at a Paris bistro. ‘What’s on your teaching menu for tomorrow?’ they asked, and when I replied, ‘Roast chicken,’ they burst out laughing. ‘Everyone already knows how to make roast chicken,’ they smirked, with more than a hint of gallic superiority. ‘Ah, yes, mes amies,’ I replied, ‘but there is more than one way to roast a chicken.’ In this recipe, the chicken is coated with a sauce made of olive oil, cumin and cinnamon before going into the oven. The mouth-watering result will be evident just 15 minutes into the roasting process as irresistible aromas begin wafting through your kitchen.

Poulet rôti épicé / Roast chicken with spices

As I learned when I put on my apron to teach that first class, roast chicken had not been such a bad choice after all. Before we even started with the bird, my students peppered me with questions: What’s the difference between a free-range chicken and an organic chicken? Why are some chickens white and some yellow? The answers, to the best of my knowledge: Free-range birds have access to outdoors, although how much access varies from region to region. Organic chickens are generally free-range and also receive pesticide-free, organic feed and are certified free of antibiotics and hormones. As for the color, white chickens are fed with wheat and yellow chickens with corn — at least in France. Happy cooking!

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3 Responses to Poulet rôti épicé

  1. Marie-Lise says:

    Excellente recette! Merci! C’est délicieux avec les épices. Le changement fait du bien de temps en temps 😉

  2. Monique says:

    Dunno why UK or american people always want to add spices every where… Less is more, specially with a “poulet roti” !

    • Meg says:

      Well that’s a matter of opinion. My advice: try the recipe and then let’s talk. Actually I love roast chicken in all it’s guises — just plain with a light coating of olive oil, or on Sunday mornings straight from the market, where they roast it with herbs (and sometimes spices too!). By the way, that’s the Richard Lenoir market right down the street from me near the Bastille, where they have spices of every sort to appeal to the French palate…

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