Meat With a Twist of Fruit - From Pomegranates to Peaches

Our appetite for sweet and savoury has never been so adventurous, thanks to chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi leading the way with global flavours. Summer is the perfect time to contrast the zesty, sharpness of fruits with succulent meats.In British cooking, meat and fruit tend to star in separate stages of a meal. Sure, pork has always had its apple, turkey its cranberries, and ham a spoon of chutney, but generally, a savoury dish was exactly that. No longer. Once seen as an exotic combination, sweet-savoury pairings are now commonplace and very enticing. In restaurants and home kitchens, peaches, rhubarb and mango have all moved in on the main course. Bets are that this twist is going to be a big part of your eating this summer, thanks to our growing appetite for cooking from around the globe, and especially the continued march of Middle Eastern cuisine.Yotam Ottolenghi has led the way in bringing Middle Eastern and North African flavours to our tables. Through his Guardian column, cookbooks and restaurants, he has influenced a host of other chefs and food writers. Apricots and prunes now brighten lamb stews; oranges and clementines enliven chicken tray bakes. Recently, Sabrina Ghayour, has helped brighten the greyest of days with Persian dishes lifted by pomegranate and sour cherries, while figs, plums and quince appear in the cooking of Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer at their ace restaurant Honey & Co, and in their eponymous recipe book. Food writer Diana Henry has also helped to bring these heady influences together, and making them appetising and accessible for Britain’s home cooks.Caribbean flavours are also likely influencers this summer. The zesty, sharp contrast of tropical fruits against meat is perfect for this time of year, and new writers, such as Shivi Ramoutar, will be bringing them to the fore. There’s a practical benefit to combining fruits such as pineapple and papaya to tough BBQ meats such as pork ribs, neck and shoulder, because their juices are brilliant natural tenderisers, making them perfect marinade material.So there are plenty of options for adding a fruit twist to your meat and two veg. One combination I particularly like is peach with sticky chicken thighs. The floral and perfumed peach is acidic, so it cuts through succulent chicken thigh really well. The contrast of crisp, salty skin against the warm, soft fruit is really important – and delicious. Nutty freekeh grains and bitter radicchio ensure the dish is well-balanced and still savoury. Use pearl barley if you can’t find freekeh.

Sticky freekeh chicken and peaches

Serves 48 chicken thighs, skin on; bone in
2 ripe but firm peaches
250g cooked freekeh
1 medium radicchio, broken into leaves
1 spring onion, finely chopped
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp honey
leaves of 6 tarragon twigs
20g pistachios, lightly crushed
150ml water
Sea salt
Black pepperRemove the bones from the thighs and lay the thighs flat, skin side up. Salt the skin. Leave for 15 minutes. Put a little sunflower oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Place on a medium heat. Lay the chicken thighs skin side down and cook for 15-20 minutes, occasionally pushing flat. Don’t turn over – get the skin golden and crisp.Meanwhile, mix the freekeh with spring onion, olive oil, honey, tarragon and a pinch of salt. Add the radicchio leaves and toss. Cut the peaches in half, remove the stone, then cut each peach into 8 equal segments.When the chicken skin is golden and crisp, cook for 3 minutes more, pour away much of the fat, then turn the chicken over on to the flesh side. Add the water to the frying pan without wetting any skin, and place the peach segments in gaps between the chicken. Simmer for 8 minutes more until there a couple of spoons of liquor left.Remove the chicken and let rest for 5 minutes. Pour the remaining juices into the freekeh, add the peaches and gently toss. Cut the thighs in half and serve on top of the peach and freekeh salad.Top Photo: Sweet-savoury pairings are very enticing… Edward Smith’s chicken with peach. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the Guardian