A BIRD FOR THE AGES

All part for M'sakhan Roast Chicken! 

This is an ancient Palestinian dish using a biblical spice rub called sumac- a red berry fruit when dried achieves the almighty tartness of a lemon king. (The recipe came from partners Yottam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, from their cookbook - of the former's last name. When I listened to their interview on Splendid Table.org, they described this dish as the best dish one will ever eat in his life.) They were right. I love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food in general, and cook a lot of them at home, but this one broke my heart - in a good way, of course - because it went straight to my stomach!

Amazingly simple to do! Marinade the following overnight (use your hands):

• Whole (field-running) chicken, cut up (tell your butcher to reserve the spine to make for stock)
• 2 Meyer lemons, thinly sliced
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp ground sumac (rub on each piece)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground all spice (rub)
• 1 tbsp freshly grated cinnamon (rub; also, break pieces of the stick and add)
• 1 cup chicken stock (use the reserved spine; add parsley stems and whole pepper corns)
• salt and pepper (I used black volcanic salt from Hawaii; get it from Kalustyan's on Lex and 28th) 

The next day, preheat oven to 400 degrees, and on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper -  (by the way, toast some Spanish pine nuts in butter the night before, too) - then transfer the chicken on the sheet, skin-side up, pick the onions and Meyer lemons and top on the bird, spoon some marinade juice over each piece, dust generous amounts of za'atar spice, swirl olive oil back and forth across - and then roast the bird in the oven covered with a sheet of foil for 40 minutes (remove afterwards; point is to lock-in succulence and moisture), then continue to cook for another 20 minutes (check skin color charring), then high broil for 3 minutes to burn the onions and lemons to generate the caramelization of all the nutrients! Remove from oven and you are done.

Look at the picture above. That's how the dish should look on a nice white platter sprinkled with pine nuts and fresh parsley.  The white dip is actually garlic yogurt. Salivating already? I am.

Serve with warm pita bread (the best comes from Damascus Bakery in Brooklyn, just next door to Sahadi's; tell Fanny, the counter woman from Indonesia, to get you the fresh ones from the back- Gary said so). Eat with your hands - and kneel to the north star! That's how good it is.