Food writer Rachel Roddy has published a recipe for chicken with sweet and sour lemon and tarragon sauce. The recipe draws inspiration from Anna del Conte, a 100-year-old resident of Dorset.
Del Conte's version of the 17th-century sweet and sour sauce for chicken breasts was inspired by Bartolomeo Stefani, a chef to Prince Ottavio Gonzaga and author of the 1662 manual, L'arte di Ben Cucinare (The Art of Fine Cooking).
Stefani's approach, noted by Del Conte, moved away from heavily spiced medieval recipes towards a lighter style using herbs, citrus, and flowers. The dish involves poached chicken, originally capon, served in thick slices with a sweet-and-sour sauce made from wine, sugar, vinegar, olive oil, and lemon. The assembled dish is left to sit to allow the chicken to absorb the sauce's flavours before being served at room temperature.
Roddy's adaptation suggests using red-wine vinegar, either partially or entirely, instead of balsamic vinegar, and incorporates tarragon for its scent, lemon, and aniseed notes, as well as for colour. The recipe serves four and includes ingredients such as skinless chicken breasts, white wine, vegetable stock, brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, fresh tarragon, vinegar, and olive oil.