SO THAT’S WHAT THEY CALL IT

A chicken-roasting method all good cooks know

Everyone’s looking for the perfect roast chicken, yet spatchcocking still seems like a secret of those in the know. Suffice it to say, it’s a skill worth learning, and not just because spatchcocking is a fun word to bandy about with authority. Also known as butterflying, spatchcocking is the method of cutting out the chicken’s backbone, opening the bird up and pressing down on it so its breastbone cracks and flattens. Once it’s spatchcocked, a chicken roasts more quickly and evenly than an intact bird, eliminating that pesky problem of overcooked breasts and undercooked thighs. You can also use a hotter oven, which leads to crisper skin.

Some especially keen spatch cockers will also carve out the keel bone in the centre of the bird’s sternum to get an even flatter bird. Others don’t bother removing the backbone entirely, preferring instead to cut along just one side to open the bird.

I take the easiest path, leaving in both the keel bone and the backbone. But feel free to remove one or both if it suits you.

You can season a spatchcocked chicken any way you’d season a regular roast chicken. Do this at least an hour or so in advance if you can, so the flesh can absorb the salt all the way to the bone.

Even better, season it the day before and let it rest overnight, uncovered, in the refrigerator so the skin can dry out and then crisp up even more in the oven.

In this recipe, I rub the chicken down with salt, a mix of spices, and a touch of dark brown sugar. The sugar doesn’t add much sweetness, but it does balance out the heat of the chilli and dry mustard powder, and helps brown and caramelise the skin.

Make sure your spices are fresh, especially the mustard powder, which goes stale quickly. If it doesn’t burn your tongue when you taste it, buy a new jar.

With all those spices smeared onto it, the bird itself has a lot of flavour, and it is so inherently juicy you don’t need a sauce — secret or otherwise.