March: Our recommendations on the menu this month

What we’ve been eating: Rives-d'Andaine chicken, parsley root, garlic, dauphinoise potatoes

When you’ve got great produce like this to work with, it’s just a matter of letting the ingredients shine. Corn-fed chicken has a slightly sweeter, richer flavour and a tender, juicy texture. We’re serving the breast and thigh browned and crispy alongside dauphinoise potatoes, a classic French dish made by layering thinly sliced potatoes with cream and garlic, and baking it until tender and velvety with a crispy golden top.
 
To really bring the dish alive, we add a bit of garlic purée; a chicken sauce made using the bones, vegetables, white wine and herbs; and parsley root ketchup, which has a fresh, herbal flavour compared to regular tomato ketchup but still with the familiar tangy kick.

What we’ve been drinking: Tenuta Mazzolino Bonarda Oltrepò Pavese 2022, Italy

Tenuta Mazzolino produces exciting wines in Lombardy across 20 hectares of organically cultivated vineyards. Cold air flows off the Apennines result in cool mornings which help the grapes retain flavour. 
 
Known locally as the ‘hill of Pinot Nero’, the site was abandoned until Francesca Seralvo’s grandfather arrived from France in the 1970s. A Milan-based banker, he initially purchased the property as a weekend retreat but developed a passion for winemaking. Francesca took over the property from her mother a decade ago.
 
The Bonarda is the most typical of the Oltrepò reds, with a deep colour, as well as dark plum and earthy flavours and lovely, rustic tannins.