Tony Jackman’s take on Leo Caviggia’s wonderful way with chicken thighs. (Photo: Tony Jackman) John Caviggia was a friend to the Foodie’s Wife and I for a very long time – they knew each other before I even met her in fact, when John was her UCT Drama School lecturer – and while he was a master theatre practitioner on many levels, he was not quite as accomplished in the kitchen.
We called him John-John, as did most of his close friends, though the broader theatre community in Cape Town called him Cabbage, a jokey take on his surname, Caviggia. You could always tell who was closer and who wasn’t by the names they used.
At his many dinner parties – more like soirees – he would swan around being his ever-enchanting self while his dad, Leo, did the hard work in the kitchen. We were always glad that Leo was there, doing that, because John was quixotic in pursuing lofty kitchen goals with limited success. And all we wanted of John was his perennial eccentric self and that mischievous dimpled grin. How we miss him – he’s been gone more than 10 years.
Leo was a shy Italian charmer with the same dimpled chin that John inherited, and he was a superb cook. His signature dish was all cooked in one large oven pan, as some of the most satisfying dishes are.
It consisted of chicken thighs, black olives, whole garlic cloves in their husks, orange zest and juice, and olive oil of course. But my favourite ingredient, and the one that brought the dish together and finished it off with a flourish, was the toasted almonds strewn on top before serving. Generously.
I don’t like to just take what I reckon is somebody else’s recipe without putting in some effort of my own, so I spent some time in the vegetable section of my local supermarket and made a few decisions about what to add.
I took a chance with fresh turmeric. It was a bold, potentially rash, choice given how perfect Leo’s recipe is, but I calculated that it would be an interesting match for the orange in particular, and would add yet more colour. Oh, and I did add some bird’s eye chillies.
To buy Tony’s Retro Karoo Food signed in gold pen by the author, send him an email at tony@dailymaverick.co.za. Or buy it through the Daily Maverick shop.
Now, a little confession, and luckily both Leo and John are not here to hear it: I cooked everything in air fryers. Everything. They did not exist at any point during Leo’s life, and even though John is just over 10 years gone, he didn’t know them either.
Goodness knows how many chicken drumsticks John would have tried to squeeze into an air fryer if he’d had one. He once piled about 30 of them into a standard black oven tray – three drumsticks deep – and couldn’t figure out why the ones underneath the top layer were raw. Everyone politely nibbled the edges and hid the balance under their napkins. Nobody had the will to break the news to him.
I added no other element that would fundamentally alter Leo’s dish, but did include baby carrots and fine green beans, which I cooked separately and arranged alongside the dish when plating up.
I also cooked halved baby potatoes in a drawer on my twin-drawer air fryer, as the dish needed a starch component and we’d had noodles the previous night so I didn’t want to have them again.
The kalamata olives I used were from Darling and were not pitted, but use pitted ones if you can.
Tony’s take on Leo’s chicken
(Serves 2-3)
Ingredients
6 chicken thighs, skin on
Olive oil, as needed
Salt to taste
White pepper, to taste (sparingly)
Garlic powder, to taste
Dried Italian herbs, to taste
8 garlic cloves unpeeled
2 Tbsp fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced very thinly
10 black olives, pitted if possible (I used kalamata)
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
3 bird’s eye chillies, sliced
20 or so raw almonds, toasted
3 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
10 baby potatoes
20 fine green beans
12 baby carrots, trimmed
Flavourless oil for the potatoes
Olive oil for the carrots and green beans
Method
Lightly oil a deep oven dish that fits your largest air fryer, or use a traditional oven. Either way, preheat it to 200°C.
Rub both sides of the chicken thighs in the oil, then season both slides with salt, white pepper, garlic powder and dried Italian herbs. Drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken skin.
Wedge the garlic cloves (in their husks, to protect them) between the thighs.
Push slices of turmeric between them and around the edges of the dish, and then the olives and chillies too.
Zest the entire orange and scatter half of the zest over the dish. Squeeze half of the orange juice over. Drizzle olive oil over everything.
Roast until the skin on the thighs is golden brown, at least 30 minutes, and up to 45. (It took 45 minutes in my large Kenwood oven.)
While the chicken dish is in the oven, prepare the potatoes, carrots and green beans.
Wash the baby potatoes but don’t peel them. Slice them in half lengthwise. Lightly oil an air fryer basket with flavourless oil, toss the potatoes in this, and roast them in a hot air fryer (200°C or higher) for 20 minutes, then repeat for 10 minutes. I don’t use the rack when cooking potatoes in an air fryer. Check to see whether they’re tender and crunchy on the outside. Leave in the machine to be reheated when serving.
Add a little olive oil to an air fryer basket (without the rack) and add the carrots. Roast at 180°C for about 10 minutes. Add the green beans and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Leave in the machine to be reheated when serving.
Arrange the chicken, garlic, bits and pieces from the chicken dish (garlic, zest, olives, etc) on a heated platter and arrange the vegetables around. The green beans can be draped on top.
Note that there will be some pan juices, and they will be a bit fatty. Spoon off as much of the fat as you can, and pour the remaining pan juices over the dish when serving.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan and scatter them over. Scatter the chopped parsley over to finish. Squeeze the remaining orange juice and zest over along with a drizzle of olive oil. Raise a glass to the Caviggias. DM
To buy a copy of Tony Jackman’s Retro Karoo Food (Penguin Random House) signed by the author in gold, send an email to tony@dailymaverick.co.za. Or buy it through the Daily Maverick shop.
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.