I like flavour in food. I lived in Mexico for a couple years. The first chicken I ate there had flavour, flavour I had forgotten. I took one bite and was immediately and magically transported to childhood and the flavour of a roast chicken on Sunday. I had forgotten that this is what chickens taste like - when they're free to graze on wild grasses and seeds, when they aren't encouraged to grow abnormally fast.
I occasionally taste chickens with real chicken flavour here in Australia. They invariably come from small producers and are sold by old-fashioned butchers.
Because I like flavour, I buy chicken on the bone and with the skin on (unless doing an Asian stir fry). Here's a thigh from a local butcher. He gets his chickens delivered on Tuesdays and cuts them up for sale. One of my favourite pieces is this thigh, which he calls a chicken chop.
It's simply brushed with olive oil and dusted with salt and chilli. The organic corn (organic because I suspect that most non-organic corn in Australia is genetically modified) is roasted and mixed with lime juice, coriander and a drizzle of maple syrup.
The orange capsicums are sweated with onion, smoked paprika and turmeric in olive oil. I then add a little chicken stock and purée smooth. It's delicious with chicken, fish and pork.
So there it is - vaguely Mexican. And full of flavour.
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