A golden roast chicken in the oven, accompanied by small turnips caramelized in their juices. A festive bourgeois dish, generous yet elegant, which crowned meals when receiving guests.

Why this dish? Delacroix entertained brilliant minds of his time at his table. A beautiful roast poultry, accompanied by glazed turnips, was the quintessential reception dish of romantic Parisian bourgeoisie — noble enough to honor a guest, sober enough not to betray his taste for moderation.

When I receive a dear friend, be he musician or man of letters, I want a table worthy without being showy — pomp tires me as much as grayness in painting. One chooses a fine chicken, slowly roasted on the spit until its skin takes on that amber tone I so love in my canvases. The turnips, I glaze them in the poultry's juices, so they coat themselves in a shiny veil. Believe me, a well-gilded dish delights the eye before the palate — and the eye, with me, forgives nothing.

How it was made : The poularde — a young fattened hen — was a prized reception meat in the 19th century. Glazing root vegetables in a reduced stock with a little sugar is a classic bourgeois technique, codified by the great chefs of the century.

The contemporary twist : Serve the chicken on a wooden board, the golden turnips arranged in a gradient from orange to brown — a true study of warm tones, like the master's palette.

Eugène Delacroix · Charactorium