Circassian Chicken (Çerkez Tavuğu; walnut-sauced poached chicken)

Shredded poached chicken draped in a silky walnut and bread sauce: Istanbul's finest cold meze

Origin: Circassia (Caucasus) / Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

From the journey of Walnut.

Çerkez tavuğu, Circassian chicken, is one of the great migration dishes of the world: a preparation carried from the mountain villages of the northwest Caucasus to the tables of Istanbul by one of history's most catastrophic population displacements. The Circassians are an indigenous people of the western Caucasus who resisted Russian imperial expansion for decades before being expelled en masse in 1864, in an event now recognised as genocide, with estimates of death and deportation ranging from 600,000 to 1.5 million people. The survivors, settling across Ottoman Anatolia, the Levant, and Jordan, brought with them the walnut-sauce tradition that is the defining element of Circassian home cooking: ground walnuts, thickened with soaked bread, thinned to a silky consistency with poaching broth, and seasoned with garlic. Applied to shredded poached chicken and served at room temperature, it became, within a generation, one of the canonical dishes of the Istanbul meze table. The Ottoman kitchen absorbed it completely. Today it appears in every meyhane and kebap restaurant in Turkey as a staple cold starter. The paprika-butter oil drizzled over at the end, red and glossy against the pale walnut sauce, is the dish's signature finish, its colour echoing the Circassian flag. The recipe is forgiving, but the walnut paste must be made fine enough that no graininess remains: this is a dish of velvet, not texture.

Ingredients

Chicken

1.5 kg whole chicken

Poaching

1 onion, halved
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns

Walnut sauce

250 g walnut halves
2 thick slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp fine sea salt

Paprika oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1.5 tsp sweet paprika
0.5 tsp hot chilli flakes (Aleppo or Turkish pul biber)

Garnish

2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp walnut halves, toasted, for garnish

Method

Place the whole chicken in a deep pot with the onion, carrot, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cover with cold water (about 2 litres). Bring to a boil, skim any foam that rises, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 50–55 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through. Remove the chicken and allow to cool until handleable. Reserve all the poaching broth.
While the chicken cools, tear the bread into pieces and soak in about 60ml of the warm poaching broth for 5 minutes. Squeeze the bread to remove excess liquid.
Process the walnuts, soaked bread, and garlic in a food processor until very finely ground; almost a paste. Season with salt. With the motor running, gradually add poaching broth, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the sauce reaches a thick, creamy consistency that still holds its shape on a spoon. You will need approximately 120–180ml of broth total.
Remove the skin and bones from the cooled chicken and shred the meat into long, finger-width strips. Season the shredded chicken lightly with salt.
Toss the shredded chicken with about two-thirds of the walnut sauce until evenly coated. Arrange on a serving platter, mounding it slightly.
Spoon the remaining walnut sauce over the top of the chicken.
Just before serving, melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add the paprika and chilli flakes and stir for 30 seconds; the spices will foam and sizzle. Remove immediately from heat and drizzle the red butter over the top of the dish. Scatter with parsley and toasted walnuts.

Notes

Circassian chicken is a room-temperature or very slightly chilled dish; it should never be served cold from the refrigerator, which sets the walnut sauce unpleasantly. Make it up to 4 hours ahead (sauce applied, paprika oil held back) and bring to room temperature before adding the final garnish. Leftovers keep for 2 days refrigerated; bring fully back to room temperature before serving.

The Gastrographer

Name: Circassian Chicken (Çerkez Tavuğu; walnut-sauced poached chicken)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Ottoman Empire
Ingredients: 1.5 kg whole chicken; 1 onion, halved; 1 carrot, roughly chopped; 2 bay leaves; 6 black peppercorns; 250 g walnut halves; 2 thick slices day-old white bread, crusts removed; 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 2 tbsp unsalted butter; 1.5 tsp sweet paprika; 0.5 tsp hot chilli flakes (Aleppo or Turkish pul biber); 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley; 2 tbsp walnut halves, toasted, for garnish

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control