In her book, “My Life In France,” Julia Child said her favorite dish was roast chicken, or poulet rôti. “What a deceptively simple dish,” she wrote. “I had come to believe that one can judge the quality of a cook by his or her roast chicken. Above all, it should taste like chicken: it should be so good that even a perfectly simple, buttery roast should be a delight.” I agree with this, and often order roast chicken in restaurants when others are choosing more exotic entrees.

I’d like to draw your attention to the photograph atop this post, taken through the glass of a rotisserie case outside a modest grille (Le Poul’Grill) in Brittany: Two butchered and seasoned chickens are barreling toward possible immortality. If all goes well with the roasting, they are certain to be remembered as the delicious and filling centerpieces of two household meals in the French seaside village of Le Pouliguen.

Or maybe not. Maybe the part more likely to receive accolades sits at the bottom of the rotisserie case. This particular cooking arrangement allows succulent liquids from the rotating birds to fall on the slow-roasting potatoes below. Perhaps this is done in the U.S. If so, I’ve missed it in my culinary investigations. It certainly makes sense. The French chef at this little restaurant has chosen not to waste the drippings from the poultry by letting them rain down and soften and season the peeled spuds. This leads, I am sure, to a fine midweek dinner of roasted chicken and potatoes with a fresh salad in vinaigrette and a glass of wine. I am equally sure that Julia would have approved.

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Published by Dan Rodricks

Dan Rodricks is a former long-time columnist for The Baltimore Sun, winner of numerous national and regional journalism awards, a radio and TV personality, podcaster and fly angler. His narrative memoir, "Father's Day Creek," was published in May 2019 by Apprentice House at Loyola University Maryland.

6 thoughts on “Window shopping: Rotisserie chicken in France”

  2. In 1995 we visited Fuengirola, Spain on the Mediterranean Sea and was looking for dinner. We passed a small hole in the wall shop with chickens in a rotisserie case. This was the first time we had seen rotisserie chicken (and in the back yard were live chickens). We bought two chickens and it was the most delicious dish I have ever had. This was before preparing chicken on a rotisserie in the USA (Boston Market, supermarkets, etc.). The spices were unbelievable and was mouthwatering. Also, there was a “ram-shackle” restaurant on the beach and was recommended by locals to get a meal there. We return on day at about 9PM and there were ten people and we ordered paella and a fresh piece of fish and bottles of wine. The paella came to the table in a LARGE pan (scrumptious) and the fish was HUGE and perfectly cooked. And best yet was the cost, $65 US Dollars. Memories. Thanks for your article.

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  3. Hope you are enjoying Brittany. You need to go to Monet’s home in Giverny (spectacular) and Bayeux with the famed 68-meter Tapisserie de Bayeux, an 11th-century tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman invasion of England, is on display in an 18th-century seminary. Bayeux is a town on the Aure river in the Normandy region of northwestern France, 10 kilometers from the Channel coast. Its medieval center contains cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and the towering, Norman-Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame. And, of course, Normandy, sacred ground.

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  4. Hi Dan, I’m with you here! My daughter is the roast chicken queen in our family, but I’m not so bad myself – with a little help from former Gourmet Magazine Executive Editor Ruth Reichl and my favorite TV chef and recipe writer Sara Moulton. Reichl’s wonderful book “My Kitchen Year” contains a remarkably simple recipe for roast chicken that stuffs salvaged fat from the bird under the skin, with tiny potatoes and onions under the rack in the roasting pan (right?!?). In her book, “Sara Cooks at Home”, Moulton advises salting the bird liberally and stuffing BUTTER under the skin – which I do too, of course! And sometimes I even put tiny carrots under the rack. Never fails. Perfect meat and potatoes, all in one! Enjoy!

    JoAnn Ruther Monkton, MD

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  5. Danny!

    My mouth is watering! I’m more than ready to go to Britanny!

    Can you go with you and Lilian next time go two go!

    We’ll take you two to Italia ( if you’d like)! Ciao BELLO! Ida

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