Cross-Cultural Chicken

Open to all seasonings and spices, chicken is a passport to global flavors

By Laura Yee, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/1/2003

Wappo Bar Bistro travels the world. At lunch, its menu visits the Mediterranean with Greek skewered chicken marinated in yogurt, lemon and herbs, and served alongside orzo and Greek salad. It moves on to Asia, where marinated chicken is accompanied by Thai noodle and green papaya salad with shaved vegetables, herbs, peanuts and ginger-lime dressing.

The 150-seat Calistoga, Calif., restaurant makes a stopover in India, featuring tandoori chicken with lentil and caramelized-onion pilaf, tomato raita, sautéed spinach and warm flatbread on its dinner menu.

“I’ve traveled a lot and have had influences from all over the world,” says Aaron Bauman, chef at the restaurant he owns with his wife, Michelle Mutrux. “Chicken fits nicely on the menu. It’s an easy product to work with.”

Ask operators in any segment to name the MVP (most valuable protein) in their kitchens and chicken will tally plenty of votes. It is a well-rounded food, with popularity powered by affordability, versatility and mass appeal. But to make the ubiquitous unique among an ever-increasing crowd of competitors, operators are finding the global ingredient pantry to be a liberating resource.

“American diners are embracing global flavors more and more as people get a taste of what’s out there,” says Tony D’Onofrio, an executive chef for the corporate services division of Gaithersburg, Md.-based contractor Sodexho USA. “The great thing about global foods is that they have no political boundaries.”

No other protein globetrots menus as easily as chicken, conveying Caribbean as readily as it does Southeast Asian. Chefs credit the meat’s mild flavor, but the poultry historically has a role in most cultures.

“Chicken is a prominent part of what people eat around the world,” says D’Onofrio, who is based in Seattle and oversees Sodexho accounts in the Pacific Northwest.

FLOCKING AROUND VALUE
Earlier this year, Hectór Rolotti opened Novecento in Miami, featuring what he calls nuevo bistro: refined flavors of his native Argentina along with Mediterranean and Latin American influences, at moderate prices. Chicken appears throughout the menu in a variety of presentations.

“Red meat is an important part of Argentine cooking,” says Rolotti, who also owns restaurants in Argentina and New York City. “But people don’t eat it every day. They feel that chicken is something they can eat daily.”

Chicken empanadas with mixed greens are offered as a $6 appetizer. The meat is part of a tasting platter that includes grilled sweetbreads, beef, chorizo and petite empanadas ($13). Grilled chicken breast, guacamole, corn, red onions, cherry tomatoes and red peppers come together as a salad ($14) that appears on both lunch and dinner menus. “Customers feel it is a healthy food,” Rolotti says.

ASIAN PASSPORT
Make no mistake, the appetite for bold flavor profiles is growing, says Jeff Siegle, director of marketing for Bloomington, Minn.-based Leeann Chin Inc. “Because chicken is so widely accepted, what becomes the star is flavor,” he says. “Chicken is becoming like vegetables: Anything can go with it.”

The operator of the Leeann Chin quick-service chain has opened its first Chin’s Asia Fresh, a fast-casual concept that emphasizes pan-Asian flavors. Here, chicken’s versatility is put to use in stir-fries, swathed in spicy Indonesian coconut-curry sauce, while peanut sauce with Thai chiles enrobes chicken in another preparation.

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
Sodexho finds “endless opportunities” to lend chicken global leanings, says D’Onofrio. Its Menu by Design program, for example, focuses on an ingredient, style of cooking, or menu category and provides recipes for client accounts.

Last fall, the program’s Caribbean focus involved 70 recipes, with chicken claiming a lion’s share. “Think of the spice rubs for grilling, barbecue rubs and Caribbean curry rubs that chicken can work with,” he says.

In one application, chiles, paprika, garlic, onions, cayenne and hickory blend with vinegar as a rub. In another, chicken meets curry, mango and chutney for a salad.

“Chicken is the common denominator,” D’Onofrio says. “If people aren’t familiar with the spices, they order a dish because they know chicken.”

WING TIPS
At Blue Smoke, Union Square Hospitality Group’s American-barbecue restaurant in New York City, regional flavors can have global connections. Consider its Barbecued Chipotle Chicken Wings, which draw on the Southwest’s multicultural heritage.

Executive Chef Ken Callaghan’s recipe soaks wings in brine for four hours, then moves them to a smoker for 45 minutes. He next sprinkles the wings with house-made barbecue spice blend and deep-fries them for crunch. As a final touch, the wings are tossed in spicy chipotle barbecue sauce and served with Roquefort-cheese dipping sauce. The wings receive time- and labor-intensive care often afforded pricier dishes, but the results are memorable, creating a popular experience for Blue Smoke diners. The restaurant sells more than 40 orders a day at $8.95.

“Chicken can be taken in many directions with all kinds of spices,” Callaghan says. “But give the meat the time and care it deserves if you want it to be great.”

Curried Mango-Chicken Salad
Executive Chef Tony D’Onofrio, Sodexho USA, Seattle

Yield: 24 servings

Mayonnaise	7 Tbsp.
Fruit chutney	3 1/3 Tbsp.
Sour cream	2½ Tbsp.
Curry powder	½ tsp.
Kosher salt	3/4 tsp.
Black pepper	½ tsp.
Chicken, cooked, diced	10 oz.
Mango, diced	3½ oz.
Celery, diced	2¼ oz.
Red onions, diced	2¼ oz.

To make dressing, combine mayonnaise, chutney, sour cream, curry powder, salt and pepper.
Mix chicken, mango, celery and onions; combine chicken mixture and dressing.
To serve, place 1-oz. portions of chicken mixture atop salad greens.