Roast Capons is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for roast chicken flavoured with spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of Roast Capons.
Traditionally a capon was a castrated cockerel which grew larger than a normal chicken. Free-range and fed corn these birds had a flavour all their own that was much gamier than a normal chicken. This recipe would originally have been made with a whole bird, roasted slowly but I decided to try chicken thigh (which are the most flavoursome parts of ordinary chickens to see how they worked.
Place the butter, olive oil and spices in a small pan and heat to melt the butter. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4), baste your chicken thighs with the butter mixture, place in a baking dish and roast for about 35 minutes until the thighs are a rich golden brown. Every five minutes or so take the thighs from the oven and baste with more of the butter mixture. Serve immediately.
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