The Capsule Pantry: Taking Poultry Back to the 70s - Chicken in Oloroso Sherry Sauce

In defence of things served in alcoholic creamy sauces

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Beige food is the best food

I wasn’t alive in the 70s but if I was, I like to think I would have eaten chicken in a white wine sauce - or similar - every week. It might be passé, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious.

Luckily for me, I’m in the south of Spain right now, which hasn’t wholly moved with the times. And whilst walking past a restaurant the other night, I was reminded of a classic dish.

Chicken in Oloroso Sherry sauce.

Oloroso is a beautifully nutty, dry Sherry that is poured with abandon down this part of the world. In a dish like this, it can be substituted by many other alcoholic beverages from white wine to Vin Jaune to Vermouth to Madeira to Marsala. It just depends on what you have in your collection. This dish could be made with chicken or not. Cream or not. In other words, it’s perfect for a flexible Simple and Straightforward recipe.

As the weather cools off in much of the Northern Hemisphere (although it’s admittedly still warm here), this is the dish of your Sunday lunch dreams. I’ve included a bonus side dish too - marinated carrots or “zanahorias aliñadas.” They are served in every single tapas bar in my current town of Jerez and have been a revelation.

Olé! Vamos!

The original recipe

Serves 4