Kotopoulo Riganato

The Sunday chicken of the Greek table: pieces of chicken roasted with potatoes in a great deal of dried oregano, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil until the meat is tender, the potatoes soak up the lemony juices, and the whole tray smells of the Greek mountainside

Origin: Greece

From the journey of Oregano.

Kotopoulo riganato, chicken with oregano, is one of the cornerstones of the Greek home kitchen, the everyday and Sunday roast of a hundred households. Its character comes from the holy trinity of Greek seasoning: dried oregano (rigani), lemon, and good olive oil, with garlic to back them. The oregano is used with a generous, unembarrassed hand, for in Greece dried oregano is not a timid pinch but a defining flavour, gathered from the wild mountains where it grows. Roasted in the same tray as the chicken, the potatoes drink up the lemony, herby, oily juices and become as prized as the meat itself. It is the taste of the Greek table at its most honest and beloved.

Ingredients

Chicken and potatoes

1.6 kg chicken pieces (legs, thighs, drumsticks), skin on
1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into thick wedges

Dressing

3 tbsp dried Greek oregano (rigani)
2 lemons, juiced (about 100ml)
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, crushed
200 ml hot chicken stock or water
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan / 400°F). Put the chicken pieces and potato wedges into a large roasting tin in a single layer.
Whisk together the dried oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over the chicken and potatoes and turn everything to coat thoroughly.
Pour the hot stock into the base of the tin (not over the chicken skin, so it stays able to crisp). Arrange the chicken skin-side up.
Roast for about 1 hour 15 minutes, turning the potatoes once halfway, until the chicken is deep golden and cooked through and the potatoes are tender and edged with crisp brown.
Scatter with a little more fresh oregano if you have it and a final squeeze of lemon. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve straight from the tin with the lemony pan juices.

Notes

Dried Greek oregano (rigani) is far more pungent than the soft Italian oregano sold elsewhere; seek it out, as it is the defining flavour. A whole jointed chicken works as well as ready-cut pieces. The same lemon-oregano treatment is excellent on lamb, and the potatoes alone, roasted in the lemony oregano dressing, are the classic Greek patates riganates.

The Gastrographer

Name: Kotopoulo Riganato
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 1.6 kg chicken pieces (legs, thighs, drumsticks), skin on; 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into thick wedges; 3 tbsp dried Greek oregano (rigani); 2 lemons, juiced (about 100ml); 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 5 cloves garlic, crushed; 200 ml hot chicken stock or water; 1.5 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control