BBC Two's Hairy Bikers – Chicken & Egg has seen Dave Myers and his good mate Si King s travel the world in search of the best recipes using, you guessed it, chicken or eggs, and now there's a cookbook to accompany the series.
Puns abound, with Myers cracking "one egg is never an oeuf!"
It's a project that's been incubating for 10 years.
"It's always a book that's been on the boil, really," says Myers.
"To a cook, they're such useful ingredients. We've done some stand-alone cookbooks that have been very successful, like Great Curries, Perfect Pies,
Meat Feasts, so why not Chicken & Egg?
"With Meat Feasts, we were a bit stuck for puddings, but this does tick all the boxes, from soups to starters, desserts, baking – you've got the lot with chicken and eggs."
Filming the TV show took them to Israel, where they learned about the social history of chicken and visited the first place in the world it was eaten.
King explains: "We went on this archaeological dig in Jerusalem and down these caves where they'd found the first evidence of people eating chicken, you could see knife marks on the thigh bones of these chickens that were around before Christ.
"It was a massively important city for trade, for salt, silks and spices, so lots of people would come on their routes to take this stuff to market and they would have thought, 'Hang on a minute, these birds aren't just for eggs'."
"Around 70 per cent of Israelis apparently eat chicken once a day," adds Myers.
"When Israel was formed, they were struggling to feed people, so everyone was given 100 chicks. They reared them up, then had to give 90 back to the state when they were chickens and they were allowed to keep 10.
"That way you could keep some for eggs, kill some, and so it would go on."
While both cooks have fond childhood memories of roast chicken Sunday lunches, the meat really came into its own when they turned to healthy eating in 2012, followed by a slew of Hairy Dieters books.
"We used chicken a lot in the diet books," says Myers. "You take the skin off and the whole chicken is between 700 and 900 calories, great if you're on a diet.
"If I were making tandoori, you can get the spice mix and fat-free yoghurt, marinate half a chicken, cook it over charcoal or bake it in the oven. You could actually have salad and half a chicken for under 500 calories."
With our interview drawing to an end, it's time to tackle that age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
"The egg," says Myers. "Everyone knows the bird came from the lizard, so I think there came a point when the DNA of the egg changed to be more chicken than lizard."
"It was the chick," counters King.
"You can't have an egg without a chicken. In evolutionary terms, the chicken is the closest relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The T-Rex laid eggs, didn't it? So at some point, it turned into the chicken. The scientists who think about these things go, 'Nah, it was the chicken'."
"Can you imagine the size of the oven if we ate T-Rex? 'Anyone want a thigh? It's the size of a front door!'" adds Myers, before King chimes in:
"You'd be making the stuffing with a cement mixer."
Whichever came first, why not get some on the table? Here's one chicken-themed Hairy Bikers recipes to crack on with:
:: POSH CHICKEN FRICASSEE WITH ARTICHOKES
(Serves 4)
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on or off
4 globe artichokes
2 lemons, juiced
50g butter
2tbsp olive oil
25g flour
1 shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
200ml dry white wine
Zest of 1 lemon
Torn basil leaves or chopped parsley or both
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
If you have time, brine the chicken breasts to keep them plump and moist. Meanwhile, tackle your artichokes. This is our special method. Cut off the stalk about 1cm from the globe. Peel off the outer leaves, rubbing on lemon juice as you go to stop the artichoke going black. When you reach the heart, cut off the top about a third of the way up from the base and discard the top two-thirds.
Take a melon baller or a spoon and dig out the choke - the fuzzy hairy centre. With a small knife, carve off the outer skin of the heart, then rub it with lemon juice. Prepare the rest of the artichokes in the same way and cut each one into about six slices.
Bring a shallow pan of water to a simmer and add a good squeeze of lemon juice. Add the artichoke slices and simmer them for about five minutes, then cover the pan and set aside.
Blot the chicken breasts dry on kitchen paper, place them between a couple of pieces of cling film and beat them out briefly. Spread the flour out on a plate, season it, then coat the chicken in the flour.
Heat half the butter and a tablespoon of oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan with a lid. Add the chicken and cook for a minute or so until golden, then turn it over, put the lid on the pan and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken, wrap it all in foil and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. Heat the rest of the butter and oil in the pan and gently cook the shallot for about five minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the artichokes and mushrooms and cook until they start to colour. Pour in the wine and a tablespoon of lemon juice and cook until the liquid has reduced by half.
Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the grated zest of one lemon and the herbs. Divide the artichokes and mushrooms between four plates, top with a chicken breast and drizzle over the resting juices.
:: Chicken & Egg by The Hairy Bikers is published by Orion Books, priced £22. Available now
