Chicken with Plums, Three Ways
This sounded like a Pu Pu Platter offering until that first bite
Plums and poultry—the fruit is added in three stages for layers of flavor
Culinary marriages such as mango with sashimi (yes, a real Boston restaurant offering) can be atrocious all in the name of creativity. This is why I love Italy and Mexico so much. Creativity is a non-starter since you are cooking the same recipes that your mother and grandmother did. Almost nobody is begging for change.
That being said, when Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich of London’s Honey & Co. offer a new combination of foods, I listen. They have an uncanny ability to pair foods that, at first, sound dicey but turn out to be brilliant. Take their recipe for Chicken with Plums and Sweet Spices.
A word of warning. Chicken recipes from around the world such as a Moroccan tagine with preserved lemon often call for fruit. But, here at home, one finds chicken paired with pineapple, peach sauce, or perhaps a mashup recipe called Tropical Chicken. (A nearby Boston Tiki spot offers three drinks under the heading of “Bowl Movements” including the Volcanosa, the Pirate’s Punchbowl and the Cocktail Tower of Terror. Please hold the cute.)
In contrast, the Honey & Co folks have applied solid culinary practice. Two of the plums are pureed along with vinegar, fennel, coriander and garlic and used as a paste to coat the chicken. A base of onion, celery and garlic lines the bottom of the baking dish topped with the chicken and three more of the quartered plums. Roast for about a half hour then add the remaining quartered plums and finish roasting for about 15 minutes.
It’s the spices and vinegar that save this dish putting it smack dab in the center of sweet and sour rather than fruity and sweet. This is not a tropical holiday offering, it’s just good cooking.
Chris Kimball
Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."
