Poulet au Romarin

A whole chicken roasted Provençal-style on a bed of rosemary and unpeeled garlic with white wine and black olives, the herb of the garrigue perfuming the bird and its golden pan juices: Sunday lunch in the South of France

Origin: Provence, France

From the journey of Rosemary.

Roast chicken scented with rosemary and garlic is the everyday Sunday lunch of Provence, where romarin grows wild across the limestone garrigue and finds its way into nearly every roast and grill. The bird is roasted on a bed of rosemary sprigs and whole unpeeled garlic cloves, splashed with the white wine of the region, and often scattered with the small black olives of Nyons, so that the pan fills with a fragrant, garlicky, herb-soaked juice. It is the most domestic of Provençal dishes, the chicken from the Sunday market, the herbs from the hillside or the kitchen pot, eaten with bread to mop the juices and the soft, sweet roasted garlic squeezed from its skin. Rosemary is the defining note, the very breath of the Midi.

Ingredients

Chicken

1.8 kg whole chicken
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 heads garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, halved
1 tsp flaky sea salt
0.5 tsp black pepper

Roasting

150 ml dry white wine
75 g small black olives (Nyons or Niçoise)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan / 400°F). Pat the chicken dry. Push half the rosemary, the lemon halves, and a few garlic cloves into the cavity.
Scatter the remaining rosemary sprigs and unpeeled garlic cloves over the base of a roasting tin. Sit the chicken on top, rub all over with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.
Roast for 30 minutes, then pour the white wine into the base of the tin and scatter in the olives. Roast for a further 45 to 50 minutes, basting once or twice, until the skin is deep golden and the juices run clear from the thickest part of the thigh (75°C).
Lift the chicken onto a board and rest, loosely covered, for 15 minutes. Tip any resting juices back into the tin and set it over a low heat, squashing a few of the soft garlic cloves into the juices to thicken them.
Carve the chicken and serve with the rosemary-and-garlic pan juices, the olives, the soft roasted garlic cloves, and plenty of bread or roast potatoes.

Notes

This is the template Provençal roast; vary it freely with the season. Chicken pieces (thighs and legs) can be used instead of a whole bird, roasted skin-side up on the same bed of rosemary and garlic for about 40 minutes. A handful of cherry tomatoes or new potatoes added to the tin makes it a one-dish meal. The combination of rosemary, garlic, white wine, and olives is the essence of Provençal cooking.

The Gastrographer

Name: Poulet au Romarin
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1.8 kg whole chicken; 8 sprigs fresh rosemary; 2 heads garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled; 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 lemon, halved; 1 tsp flaky sea salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 150 ml dry white wine; 75 g small black olives (Nyons or Niçoise)

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control