A whole corn-fed chicken from the Tauzin family farm in St. Sever, Les Landes — the heart of south-west France's poultry country. The Tauzin family has been raising poultry here since the 19th century, and Arnaud Tauzin's birds are a staple of serious French restaurant kitchens, including that of three-Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze at The Connaught in London.

The breed is the Cou-Nu — a naked-neck variety with origins in Africa that has become a traditional favourite in the Landes region. The bare neck is not just a visual curiosity: it is a marker of a bird that is hardy, slow-growing, and well adapted to the hot summers of south-west France. These chickens spend the majority of their lives outdoors, foraging across the rolling hills and maize fields of the Tauzin farm. They grow slowly, which is the single most important factor in developing flavour and texture in a chicken.

The birds are fed on maize grown on the farm itself. In the final five weeks before slaughter, they are finished on whole maize and milk — a regimen similar to that used for capons, which develops a fine layer of fat between the skin and flesh and produces the characteristic golden colour and rich, deep flavour. The slow sugars in the maize convert readily to fat, which means the bird roasts beautifully: crisp, golden skin over firm, succulent, well-marbled flesh with a high meat-to-bone ratio.

This is a step above Label Rouge standard in both flavour and texture. It is the kind of chicken that makes you reconsider what chicken can taste like — firm but never tough, juicy throughout, and with a depth of flavour that carries through from breast to leg.

FINE & WILD prepares each bird in-house on the day it arrives from France. The birds are trussed using traditional techniques to promote even cooking, then blast frozen to −30°C to preserve freshness. They arrive oven-ready with no giblets.

Producer: Arnaud Tauzin, St. Sever, Les Landes, south-west France

Ingredients: Whole chicken (Cou-Nu breed)

Net: Minimum weight 1.4kg

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