Poulet Rôti à la Provençale

On Wednesday mornings in Saint-Rémy, the market takes over the old town. By eight o'clock the plane trees are hung with shade and the stalls are doing serious business — fromage de chèvre stacked in pyramids, slabs of tapenade glistening on boards, and at one particular corner, a farmer who sells nothing but chickens. His birds are raised in the open air on his farm outside of town, fed on grain, and they smell the way chicken is supposed to smell: of the farm, of fat, of something real.

This recipe is an argument for buying the best chicken you can find. There is no technique here that will save a mediocre bird. But take a good poulet fermier, rub it with olive oil and herbes de Provence, surround it with ripe tomatoes and a handful of olives from the market stall, and put it in a hot oven — and what comes out is one of the simplest, most deeply satisfying things you can cook in Provence.

Summer is when this dish makes the most sense. The tomatoes are at their best in July and August. The herbs growing in pots on the terrace are at full intensity. The wine should be cold and the meal should be eaten outside.