Inspired by a 2023 visit to the Veneto, this easy, summery chicken dish is a riff on the famous sarde in saor, a Venetian sweet-sour arrangement. Consisting of fresh, deep-fried sardines marinated in a vinegary mixture containing piles of tender, cooked onion, raisins and pine nuts, it’s served at room temperature. And perfect for nibbling with a glass of Soave, preferably to the sounds of canal water lapping gently against some picture-perfect palazzo and tourists haggling with a handsome gondolier. (The gondoliers are haggle-proof, BTW). Chicken stands up to the same marinating treatment super well, with this recipe providing a good opportunity to finesse your chicken poaching skills. 

Basically, you cook your chook in barely murmuring water; boiling, or even vigorous simmering, toughens lean proteins so you defo don’t want to boil the bird. It’s the same principle as Chinese white-cooking, where the cooking finishes as the chicken cools in the hot liquid off the heat. If you’re nervous about whether your chicken is cooked or not, you can pierce between the thigh and body (the thickest part) with a knife and see how the juices look (they shouldn’t be terribly pink… a smidge is OK). We don’t love doing this because juices seep out and instead, you might want to invest in a digital thermometer which should register 75C through the thickest part when the chook is cooked.

We’re not about to soapbox but obviously a good, free-range or even organic bird will taste optimal – but use what ya like. For even more chicken-y flavour and a gutsier stock at the end, you can poach the chicken in homemade chicken stock instead of water; whichever way you go, save that liquid and use it when you next need  stock. It will happily freeze until you do. This dish would be nice with a dollop of good, home-made mayo over each serve for a bit of creamy richness. It also makes excellent picnic fare.

SERVES 4-6

1.5kg chicken

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 brown onion, roughly chopped

1 celery stick roughly chopped

80ml (⅓ cup) extra virgin olive oil

5 white onions (about 1kg), thinly sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

2-3 fresh bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme

125ml (½ cup) white wine

125 ml (½ cup white wine vinegar

2 tsp caster sugar

60g (⅓ cup) white raisins, coarsely chopped

50g (⅓ cup) pine nuts

Combine the chicken, carrot and brown onion in a saucepan big enough to hold the chicken snugly. Cover with cold water, then bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, then gently simmer the chicken for 25 minutes or until nearly cooked through. Remove from the heat, then stand, covered, until room temperature.

Meanwhile, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the white onion, then cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, bay leaves,  thyme, raisins and pine nuts, then cook, stirring often, for another 10 minutes or until the onion and garlic are very soft and most of the liquid has evaporated; the onion should not be coloured at all. Add the wine, bring to a boil, then cook for 5 minutes or until the wine has reduced, then add the vinegar, bring to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes or until the vinegar has reduced a little. Season the mixture with sea salt and white pepper, then remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, 

When the chicken and onion mixture are cool, coarsely shred the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Layer the chicken and onion mixture in a ceramic or glass serving dish, cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate overnight for the flavours to develop. Serve chilled or bring to room temperature (food always tastes better at room temp!).