The Whole Chicken: 100 Easy but Innovative Ways to Cook from Beak to Tail

by Carl Clarke

Overview

Longlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards 2020

Carl Clarke has garnered the reputation from his industry peers and the general public alike as an authority and advocate on cooking ethically reared chicken.

What he doesn't know about chicken isn't worth knowing, from brining and seasoning to poaching, grilling and frying. The Whole Chicken is not only an homage to the world's most eaten meat, but also a demonstration of its versatility, from the pie that everyone wants to perfect, to the spicy and sour chicken thighs found on the hawker stalls on the streets of Seoul.

With detailed, step-by-step photography showing exactly how to joint a chicken, the chapters that follow – whole bird, breast, wing, thigh, leg, skin, bone and offal – show exactly how to use every last scrap.

This is in equal parts a cookbook, a compendium, and a love letter, with a whole lot of style and personality to frame it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784883652
Publisher:	Hardie Grant London
Publication date:	10/29/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	56 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Carl Clarke, prior to being chef/proprietor of London’s iconic – and arguably best – chicken restaurant, Chick‘n’sours, has had both a widely revered and varied career. After accidentally stumbling into the restaurant trade as a 15-year-old runaway, he’s been a cook in the Royal Marines, U2’s head chef at The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, a private chef to a former US President, traveled the world, and worked in some of the world’s leading restaurants, from The Fat Duck’s development kitchen to Le Manoir. Among that, Carl was one of the UK’s most highly regarded DJs in the 90s and early 2000s. In 2010, Carl met his now-business partner, David Wolanski, at a music festival; by 2015, after several highly successful pop ups, the pair opened Chick‘n’sours in East London. By 2017, they had rolled out a Covent Garden branch, and in 2019, another site in Islington, as well as three fast food outlets, Chik’n. This is his first book.

Editorial Reviews

05/03/2021

It may be fashionable to dismiss chicken as boring, but Clarke, chef and proprietor of London’s Chik’n’Sours, begs to differ in his appetizingly audacious debut. His aim is to “bring some light and life to an ingredient I have come to be very passionate about,” and thanks to a bold design and straightforward organization, his guide delivers, turning the familiar endeavor of cooking chicken into an attractive affair. (Clarke even offers a few playlists for those serious about getting into the “whole chicken” mood.) Once the butchering commences with a simple tutorial on cutting a bird into 10 parts, readers are shown how to make use of what they’ve got, with each chapter devoted to a chicken part, from the breasts to the offal, legs, and bones. Taking cues from the various ways chicken is prepared around the world, Clarke kicks things off with a how-to on cooking crispy chicken skin and making schmaltz (the fat of choice in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cooking). The best recipes lean toward modern mash-ups of international dishes—such as the chicken, hot dog, and kimchi fried rice and Bangkok-style tacos—while the wings section offers seven recipes, including the chef’s cheekily titled “General Tso My Style.” This is ideal for those who want to go whole hog on hens. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly