Nothing beats good old roast chicken

 Which certainly is one of the easiest and most satisfying of celebratory feasts. Roast chicken accommodates many flavours, from spicy Indian tandoori — bright red from its marinade of spices and yoghurt — to French classic cooked with up to 50 cloves of whole unpeeled garlic! Squeezed out of its skin, the roasted garlic makes a delicious accompaniment to the tender chicken giving an intense flavour far removed from the pungency of raw garlic.
My favourite method is simple — half a lemon and a sprinkling of salt inside the cavity, anointed with butter, olive oil and more salt on the outside and roasted in a hot oven for just over an hour depending on the size of the chicken. This gives golden, crispy skin and tender lemon scented flesh.
A highlight of Saturday morning markets in southern France is roasting chickens on portable spits. After a morning of buying produce — a wide variety of seasonal vegetables fresh from local gardens, oysters, fruit, different breads, olives, preserves and cheeses — one can take home a roast chicken, hot off the spit, tucked into a foil lined brown paper bag and accompanied by a rich gravy made of the cooking juices and warm southern vegetables (tomatoes, aubergines, olives) and fragrant herbs.
In the absence of French markets I have been checking out local supermarkets, many of which now offer ready roasted chickens. Prices have amazingly come down over the past few months with whole roast chickens now selling from between US$8 to US$11. Pick ‘n Pay’s are the cheapest at not much over US$8 but are quite small and a bit on the dry side. Roast chickens from the Bridge Spar (just over US$10) are tasty but Food Lover’s Market gets my family’s vote with lovely juicy chickens at US$9,99 (down from around US$11 a few months ago). Saturday morning is very crowded at Fruit and Veg City in Greendale and after 9:30am, parking inside is almost impossible, so one has to be dedicated in order to navigate the crowds as the chickens are not ready until after 10am. But its worth it and guarantees they are freshly cooked. Accompanied by crisply garlic rolls and a couple of bunches of radishes, it’s a good lunch, feeding at least four.
Another busy place is Café Nush in Avondale. Like its predecessor, the Italian Bakery, Café Nush is a popular hangout every day of the week giving truth to the estate agent adage ‘location, location, location.’
The food is nice enough — though I thought US$11 rather steep for a pretty ordinary Nush burger. Prawn and avocado salad was good value at US$6 though the avocado was a little overripe and I found myself hungry within the hour. Perhaps I should have gone for a starchier option and there is plenty to choose from with a wide array of fillings on open sandwiches and wraps.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com