Gentile’s The Italian Cook Book of 1919 was an early Italian cuisine recipe collection available in English.

The book included a version of the chicken dish that might have inspired the lobster fra diavolo, a seafood dish very popular in the early years of red sauce cuisine.

Lobster fra diavolo takes its spicy flavor from chile peppers, also known as crushed red peppers. In this version of Pollo al diavolo, chicken is used, and the sauce has strong pickled flavors from the capers.

The serving suggestions include using the sauce for fish as an alternative, and its possible immigrants familiar with the recipe simply adapted to using lobsters, a plentiful luxury protein at the time.

This recipe was adapted from The Italian Cook Book, by Maria Gentile, in 1919.

Sauce served over chicken; good for fish.

Ingredients

Whole Chicken
Butter
Cayenne pepper
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups brown stock
4 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp pickle
1 tsp tarragon vinegar

Instructions

Butterfly the chicken.
Grease with butter and cayenne.
Broil.
Heat butter and flour.
Build a roux.
Add stock and cayenne.
Simmer 10 minutes.
Boil vinegar, onion, and sugar.
After rigorous boil, add to sauce.
Add capers, pickles, tarragon vinegar.
Cook 2 minutes.
Serve over chicken.