Riverside Ovens
Test Kitchen

"Bastille is one of the legendary dishes of Morocco and something that the French have adapted infinitely to make their own." Dorie Greenspan, from Around My French Table











A few inches of snow in mid march might inspire the would-be test kitchen to try to transport itself to a more Mediterranean climate, like, maybe, Fez Morocco -- that should be far enough down in the hemisphere to imagine oneself gathering recently gathered local large onions, sweet garlic, saffron threads, pinches of ginger and lemons as big as softballs.  So away we go... Fez is of an ancient branch North African cities, sometimes considered the Athens of Africa and its primary university considered the oldest running in the world.  Along its ancient stone corridors, no doubt street vendors under its namesake, Fez hats, tanned by all time, and beating the heat by nothing more than tea or lemonade.  Gather here a recently butchered chicken, eight thighs in all, as mentioned large onions, garlic, ground ginger, coriander, cinnamon, saffron, a few eggs, honey, cilantro, fresh almonds (maybe these were plucked from the other side of the hill, facing the sea?), and don't forget to find something that will resemble philo dough for what is to be sweet dough.

Remembering that the Sultan de Fes would have taken his sweet chicken (probably pigeon) very seriously, to the point of hiring a very competent Spanish chef to prepare, you must marinade the chicken first with the onion, garlic, spices for at least an hour.  This will eventually come to a boil until falling off the bone tender; strain and cut to cubes, if possible.  To the broth, three beaten eggs,

which will form the chicken sauce. Prepare your dough for cover; sprinkle a handful of diced almonds to the sheet then spoon the chicken and sauce over, then the second dough sheet over creating your pie.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes.  As the snow continues to swirl from the rooftops down onto the courtyard, the smells inside the house should by now smell of sweet cinnamon joined by rich chicken, and the sliced lemons that go along side might remind you of Fez, Morocco and the French chefs who, over the years, have co-opted the rich pie for their own.