As you might expect from a country where the cockerel is a national symbol, France takes its chicken seriously. From the world-famous Poulet de Bresse, which is protected by an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, to the development of exacting free-range standards, the French have done more than any nation to push the boundaries of poultry perfection.

“The French know their chicken; it’s almost part of the national identity,”
says Marc Beaujeu, a buyer for the Personal Catering Company, which supplies some of the UK’s best restaurants. “When they sit down to dinner, they want the best.”

Having worked as a chef with the Roux brothers at Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn, Beaujeu is well qualified when it comes to picking prime poulet. Breed, diet and welfare standards are all key considerations, he says, but the age of the bird is also relevant. Generally, you want a chicken that has had time to grow and develop flavour, but not always. When it comes to poussin, also known as coquelet, youth is all important.

These birds are no more than 28 days old, and are reared indoors so that their flesh is juicy and tender. Weighing in at just 400g to 450g, they are fantastic as spatchcocks on the barbecue.

“Coquelet is milky and soft, and doesn’t have the same strong chicken flavour as our fully mature free-range chickens,” explains Beaujeu. “It’s similar to how veal is light and delicate compared to beef. The meat is perfect for stronger sauces and seasonings.”
The famous dish coquelet à la diable (devil’s poussin) is a good example of the ingredient’s versatility, says Beaujeu. The bird is coated in mustard and breadcrumbs, and roasted on the grill, before being served with a spicy sauce.“It’s a classic dish that you see in many restaurants in France, and it shows how the baby chicken is perfect for carrying powerful flavours,” he says.

While the youthful charms of poussin may secure it a star billing on some menus, it has a long way to go before reaching the status of the chickens that Beaujeu sources from Loué, in the Loire region of France. Volailles de Loué (Loué poultry) is a protected food name under European law, just like Champagne and Parma ham. These free-rangers lead long lives roaming the countryside, and are famous throughout France for their depth of flavour.

Loué poultry is also part of France’s ground-breaking Label Rouge scheme, which has some of the strictest standards for poultry farming in the world. The scheme was created in 1960 by a group of chicken farmers who were dismayed at the industrialisation of poultry farming and wanted to return to less intensive production techniques. Produced by farms that have signed up to the scheme’s exacting standards, the traditional slow-growing breeds of Loué are reared for at least 87 days, which is more than twice as long as battery chickens and a month longer than conventional free-range birds. During this time, they dine on an all-natural diet of cereals and seeds, while each bird has at least four square metres of space in which to roam. Many birds are not fenced in at all, and are free to wander in large fields, returning to their straw-lined coops at night thanks to their homing instinct and the promise of food.

“It’s nice to see them running around freely, chasing bugs and having a fun life,” says Beaujeu. “It’s a lot like people in many ways. If you live in the city and work in an office every day, you tend to be pale, tired and stressed, but people from the country tend to be healthier, because the pace of life is slower and you have the sun on your face.”

This healthy rearing process means the meat has a much higher nutritional content than factory-farmed birds, with more protein, less fat and a higher mineral content. There are significant flavour benefits, too. “If you take a standard chicken that has been indoors doing nothing but eating, you will see the flesh is white and, when you cook it, there will be a lot of water in the pan,” says Beaujeu. “The meat from a Loué chicken is much darker and all you are left with are some lovely, sticky juices, which are perfect for sauces. There is no contest in the flavour. Loué birds have a much stronger chicken taste – almost gamey. The effect it has on the meat is clear.”

Available from Food Halls, Ground Floor

Patrick McGuigan contributes to Square Meal, The Spectator and
Fine Food Digest

CHICKEN, PEA AND DILL TARTLETS Serves 4

For the shortcrust pastry

250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
25ml cold milk

For the filling

1 tbsp olive oil
90g lardons
1 garlic clove, crushed
125g poached chicken breast, shredded
100g frozen peas, cooked
100g frozen broad beans, cooked and skins removed
2 tbsp fresh dill, roughly chopped
3 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
150ml double cream

Note: You will need four 12cm tartlet tins

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3.

2 Put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk to the milk and pour into the processor. Pulse once, then tip the mixture onto a lightly floured board and bring the dough together. Knead twice, then wrap in clingfilm. Flatten the pastry lightly and refrigerate for half an hour.

3 Roll out the pastry between two pieces of clingfilm to about ½ cm thick. Line the tart tins with the pastry, making sure it comes up higher than the edge of the tins. Put greaseproof paper into each tin and fill it with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and trim off the excess pastry. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes, then remove the baking beans.

4 For the filling, heat the oil in a large frying pan.Add the lardons and fry for 3 minutes or until crisp. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Divide this mixture between each tart and then add the shredded chicken, peas, broad beans and dill.

5 Put the eggs and cream into a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat well, then pour into the tart tins.

6 Turn the oven up to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and bake the tarts for 20–30 minutes until set. If the tops get too brown, cover with foil. Serve with fresh pea shoots.

Harrods olive wood board £24.95; Alessi “Nuovo Milano” table forks £57 for a set of 6

POUSSIN WITH SALSA VERDE
AND FENNEL AND BEAN SALAD Serves 6

For the marinade

100ml olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 poussins, halved

For the salsa verde

2 garlic cloves, chopped
25g capers
6 small gherkins
6 anchovy fillets
150g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the fennel and bean salad

2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained
4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of one lemon

1 Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and pour into a large plastic bag. Add the poussin halves and leave for an hour or, ideally, overnight in the fridge.

2 To make the salsa verde, place all the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds or until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil and pulse until the mixture comes together. Season with black pepper, pour into a bowl, cover and set aside.

3 To make the salad, place the fennel in a large bowl along with the beans, parsley and tarragon. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4 Remove the poussin halves from the marinade and place on a preheated griddle or BBQ. Baste with the remaining marinade and cook for 15 minutes on each side or until the meat is cooked through. Serve with the salsa and the salad.

Sophie Conran for Portmeirion dinner plate £12.50; Alessi “Mami” white wine glass £12.50 and bowl £11.50 for a set of 3, and “Nuovo Milano” teaspoon £51 for a set of 6

THAI CHICKEN KEBABS WITH ASIAN SALAD Serves 4

For the marinade

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 lime leaf, shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tsp palm sugar

3 chicken breasts, cut into 2cm chunks

For the dressing

30g shallots, finely sliced
Half of the marinade

For the salad

1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and shredded
1 green mango (optional), peeled and finely shredded
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 heads of baby gem lettuce, leaves separated
20g fresh mint, finely chopped
50g salted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 limes, cut into wedges

Note: You will need 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

1 Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade, reserving half of the mixture for the salad dressing. Place the other half of the marinade into a large non-metallic bowl and add the chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. Place the chicken onto the wooden skewers and set aside.

2 To make the dressing, add the shallots to the reserved marinade and whisk together. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.

3 Heat a griddle or BBQ and cook the chicken skewers for 10–15 minutes, turning frequently.

4 To make the salad, put the carrot, cucumber, green mango (if using), spring onions, lettuce and mint into a large bowl. Pour over the dressing, check the seasoning and mix well. Set aside.

5 To serve, pile the salad onto four plates and top each with 2 chicken skewers. Sprinkle over the peanuts and serve with wedges of lime.

Sophie Conran for Portmeirion dinner plate £12.50; Alessi“Nuovo Milano” table fork £57 for a set of 6, and table knife £90 for a set of 6

FRAGRANT CHICKEN BURGERS WITH BEETROOT HUMMOUS AND AUBERGINE CHIPS Serves 4

For the burgers

400g chicken breast, minced
½ tsp ground cumin
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
20g fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp nigella seeds
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1 egg
60g breadcrumbs

For the beetroot hummous

200g chickpeas, cooked
1 tbsp tahini
2 ready-cooked beetroot (not pickled)
1 garlic clove, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
40ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin

For the aubergine chips

vegetable oil for deep frying
1 large aubergine, cut into
5cm x 1cm batons
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt

4 buns, sliced and griddled
50g rocket

1 Put all the ingredients for the burgers into a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then shape the meat into 4 patties. Refrigerate the patties for another hour.

2 Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the hummous into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds or until the mixture comes together. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the hummous into a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

3 To make the aubergine chips, heat the oil in a fryer or a large saucepan and, when the oil starts to sizzle, deep fry the aubergine chips until brown. Remove and season with the cumin and salt.

4 To serve, divide the rocket leaves between the buns, add a dollop of the beetroot hummus and top with the chicken burger and aubergine chips.

Harrods olive wood board £24.95; Alessi tumbler £8