Fish sauce can be divisive to some palettes not used to its flavour but it’s impossible to imagine a meal in Vietnam without fish sauce featuring prominently. And like most things, there are good versions and bad. But on the island of Phu Quoc, famous for its fish sauce and pepper, you will find the makers of what is, undoubtedly, the finest fish sauce in the world.

This is an excellent way of bringing a little variety and spice into the kitchen and big family dinners. First, you make a stuffing that looks and tastes like paella and you stuff that into a big chicken to feed a crew. Then you cook potato and onions and chorizo in chicken stock and wine alongside the roast chook. The result is a juicy flavoursome bird, loads of paella stuffing and a load of delicious Spanish vegetables. Add a few greens, crusty bread, and a bottle of tempranillo and you have a dinner party for six or just a great family meal.

This is a great way to serve a good number of people without breaking the bank. The simple but punchy flavours of garlic and paprika make chicken taste six times better than it normally does and if you can cook this over a charcoal grill – even better. Make sure you soak the bamboo skewers for an hour or so before so cooking so they don’t burn.

A dish that is exceptionally easy to make and takes about 30 minutes to pull together. You can garnish with crushed roasted peanuts and chopped spring onion. Some like the water chestnuts finely chopped, some like them in slices. You can add more bean sprouts to make the dish go further if you like. Delicious and perfect with a glass of cool climate chardonnay or sparkling wine.

A dish popular in the Chinese populations of South East Asia it is originally from the Hainan province of Southern China. What we love about it is that it is so delicious and quite easy to make. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, but they are all available in the stores in town. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be bringing this recipe out to feed the family or dinner party guests.

This is a sneaky and slightly spicy way of pimping your chook so it is always golden brown. The trick is to coat the skin with a layer for golden turmeric, a healthy spice used in curry. Add to that some ground cumin for aroma and roast as per the recipe below. We’ve added a sure-fire stuffing too.

This is a simple adaptation of the classic cacciatore. You put breadcrumbs on top. They soak up some of the cooking juices and go amazingly crisp and golden when you cook them in the oven. Cacciatore is Italian for hunter, and this is meant to be a dish cooked out over fire, putting some game birds into a pot with some herbs, wine, cured meat and vegetables. It is more a guide. Please feel free to use rabbit or quail, mix up the herbs, use red wine. But, if you get a chance this season to cook this in a pot over an open fire, you’ll get the real taste of cacciatore!

This is a sure-fire method to stop complaints about a dry turkey. We take a whole turkey and brine it in a solution of salt, brown sugar, bourbon, and other spices and aromatics. We cook it until it is almost done, wrap it in a towel and finish it in an esky where it will cook a little more and become super juicy and super tender. You’ll need a big pot, a container that will fit a turkey AND fit into the fridge, a big Esky, aluminium foil, and some clean towels.

Spatchcock is a style of preparing poultry. The backbone is cut out from a chicken and the bird flattened to hasten cooking time. Cook your chook either on the grill plate or the BBQ for a fast and delicious dish and served with salad and vegetables along with this delicious Romesco sauce.

When you need to feed a few people outdoors, or just feel like some finger food, try these full-flavoured chicken drumsticks.

Pimp Your Chook! A simple way to transform our already excellent free-range chickens into a super luxurious dish to entertain or simply enjoy with family with a really good bottle of pinot noir or Nebbiolo. We have suggested you use truffle paste, (available at Tonna’s or Blake Family Grocers) but if you’ve got your hands on a locally grown Daylesford truffle, then nobody is going to stop you grating it into this dish. You can make a quick sauce by deglazing the roasting pan with a glass of white wine and cook until reduced by half.

Well, the garlic is out of the ground and the oregano is full of flavour at this time of the year. This easy to BBQ or roast chook dish is full of the bright, tangy flavours of the Indian summers our region is famous for. A full-flavoured dish that is great with a hoppy beer or a chilled glass of local chardonnay.

This is more a method than a real recipe. It allows you to bathe your turkey, or turkey buffe, or large chicken, in an aromatic solution of salt, sugar, herbs and spices. This salty bath allows the flesh of the bird to soak up the flavours and a little bit of salt and sugar, making for a delicious but very juicy bird.

These are the perfect chicken sandwiches to line up in the Tupperware and plonk down on the picnic blanket.