Those in the market for high-end chicken nuggets might consider visiting Soho restaurant Bébé Bob, the more casual, poultry-based sibling to Bob Bob Ricard.
The restaurant normally specialises in French rotisserie chicken, Champagne and caviar, but is launching chicken nuggets fried in a batter made with vodka.
“Vodka is quicker to boil and does so more vigorously, creating more and larger bubbles for that extra crispness and lightness,” an announcement said. “It also allows the batter to be made much thinner and for it to stay crisp for far longer.”
If true, this might prove to be a publicity stunt that prompts a more widely used technique. Publicans owe a great deal to whomever conceived beer batter for the cooking of fish and chips.
It is not only about the vodka batter. The nuggets are to be prepared with Landes chicken from France. These birds are work of Arnaud Tauzin in Gascony, whose family has been farming them since the 19th century.
According to the three-star chef Hélène Darroze, Tauzin’s chicken is the “Rolls Royce of the poultry world”.
Perhaps, then, it is little wonder the nuggets will cost a relatively princely £19, which is obviously more than McDonald’s but does come with a side of French fries and a winter leaf salad. There is also a chilli mayonnaise.
In other surprising food news, a Tayto martini is launching at Corrigan’s Mayfair, a St Patrick’s Day special made with Parmesan-washed vodka, homemade onion brine, and a hint of blue cheese. Elsewhere, at Soho gelateria Gelupo, a collaboration with Jolene bakery in Hackney has brought hot cross buns filled with melting Crème Eggs.
