Gordon Ramsay's Flavorful And Golden Roast Chicken Starts With An Egg

By now, most of us who spend time in the kitchen know that the foods we see in books and magazines and on television are styled to look pristine. Take roast chicken, for example: The perfectly golden skin on that plumped-up bird is doctored with all kinds of non-edibles, such as Dawn dishwashing soap, to look picture-perfect. It's similar to the approach used by commercial directors for steaks, which glisten on screen after being painted with glycerin. So while we might not be able to make our dinner chickens look quite so flawless, we can get close, especially if we follow Gordon Ramsay's advice and brush our birds with egg yolk.

To achieve crispy skin and rich color, many people brush their raw chickens with softened or melted butter or olive oil before putting them in the oven. While these ingredients are fine, you can actually get more golden color, as well as a nice glossy sheen, when you use egg yolks. Another plus to this approach is while too much oil will make seasonings slide right off the bird, they will stick firmly to the yolk.

Ramsay combines two egg yolks for his roasted chicken, which he brushes on with a pastry brush. While you can thin out the mixture with a little water or milk, Ramsay just uses the yolks for the deepest color and a beautiful sheen. You can also use this method for roasted turkey, Cornish game hens, duck, and goose.

Most home cooks and bakers are familiar with the method of brushing beaten egg or egg yolk — otherwise known as an egg wash — on top of pastry. Using this technique on roasted chicken achieves the same result: an enticing shine and golden brown exteriorBoth results are due to an aspect of the browning process called the Maillard reaction, which occurs when simple sugars in food are heated to the point of caramelization. The proteins in egg promote browning when exposed to heat, while the fat in the yolk lends a shine to the food. 

As mentioned above, oil and butter can also be used to brown your bird, but where these two ingredients are greasy and tend to cause seasoning to slide off food surfaces, egg is pretty sticky, meaning your salt, pepper, herbs, and spices will stay put. As for which seasonings work best, Ramsay likes to use lots of Szechuan pepper on his roast chicken, but the sky's the limit when it comes flavoring your own meal. I love herbes de Provence, but rosemary, sage, za'atar, smoked paprika, lemon zest, and garam masala can all be used, depending on the flavors you seek.