French Chicken with Vinegar: Poulet au Vinaigre

"Chicken with Vinegar," or "Poulet au Vinaigre," is a specialty of the French city of Lyon, dating back to the 1500s, 1600s or 1700s; take your pick, as historical information on the dish is scant. Serve with noodles, rice or mashed potatoes and a salad. You can use other parts of the chicken, but for this article I chose whole legs. There are quite a number of recipe variations, with red wine vinegar being the major preference, over the white wine vinegar that I use. Further, fresh or canned tomaotes are one of the other variations, but I chose to just use some tomato paste, although you can substitute ketchup, as the vinegar in the ketchup will simply blend in with the dish anyway. (Note: I needn't really tell you that using tomato paste can pose the problem of what to do with the unused portion, as many recipes call for 1 or 2 tablespoons of the paste. Of course there are tubes of tomato paste which can help with the problem, but if you aren't a prolific user of tomato paste, you'll still have a problem. I choose to frequently substitute ketchup, and to my knowledge, I have yet to turn into a pillar of salt; however, I did walk through some snow the other day, and IT MELTED! Another variation in some recipes is the amount of vinegar. I've seen recipes that call for what I view as "scary" amounts of vinegar, like 1 cup or more, and I'm not one to like a lot of sour taste in foods. Other recipes use 1/2 cup, but that's still a bit much for me, so about a year or two ago I tried using 1/3 cup, and while it was better, I finally settled upon using 1/4 cup, so if you like this dish, try it with 1/4 cup of vinegar and escalate the amount from there to see what you prefer. The old food preparation rule applies; in this case, to the use of vinegar: you can always add vinegar, but once you add it, try getting it out; so, use small amounts to start.        

 

Ingredients (4 servings): 

4 whole chicken legs

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste (or thick ketchup)

2 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 to 1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (if the broth is salty, you can leave this out)

1 cup cream

 

In a large skillet (it will need to be covered later; so preferably, a skillet with a lid, or you can cover it with foil), add the butter and oil over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the chicken and cook until it is browned ('about' 3 minutes per side). Remove the chicken to a plate, cover and set it aside temporarily. Add the onion to the skillet and to the existing oil/butter (add a little more oil if needed), then reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic and cook until the onion/garlic mixture is softened (like about 4 or 5 minutes). Add the tomato paste or thick ketchup, white wine, white wine vinegar, chicken broth, thyme, tarragon, black pepper and salt (if using). Keep the heat on low and let the mixture come to a simmer, then add the browned chicken pieces to the skillet, cover the skillet and let the chicken cook for about 50 to 60 minutes, until tender, stirring the liquid several times during the cooking process and spooning the sauce over any exposed chicken. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate and add the cream to the sauce, mix well and let the mixture just start to bubble and simmer over low heat for about 8 to 10 minutes, during which time the sauce should cook down to thicken the sauce a little. Return the chicken to the sauce to reheat it, then serve. 

 

With mashed potatoes and salad ... 

WORD HISTORY:

Opus (Opera)-These words are related to "operation," "copy" and "optimism," all Latin-derived words borrowed by English via French, and to "optimum," another Latin-derived word borrowed directly from that language by English. "Opus" goes back to Indo European "op," which meant "to work, to produce;" thus also, "to have ability to do (something);" thus also, "to have skill." This gave Latin the noun "opus" (perhaps via Italic "opis/opi/ope?" ^) meaning, "a work, a work of skill;" thus also, "a work of art or a composition of music or writing;" also in religious belief, "a miracle" ("a special work or deed beyond belief"). English borrowed the word from Latin circa 1810. Latin "opus" produced the verb "operari" (seemingly via the genitive case of 'opus,' which was 'operis') and meaning, "to work." This spawned the noun "opera," meaning, "a work, an effort," which carried over into Italian with the same general meaning, but also, "a composition." The specific meaning, "a dramatic work presented with orchestral music and vocals," seems to have developed in Florence (Italian: Firenze) in the latter part of the 1500s. English borrowed the word and this meaning from Italian in the mid 1600s.

 
^  Italic is a branch of the Indo European family of languages and includes Latin, Umbrian, Venetic, and others, most of which have died out. Latin's own limited use today is mainly because its dialects evolved into several modern languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Catalan, Sardinian, and several others.