Spicy Arrabbiata sauce. Fresh Squid Ink Fettuccine. Garlic and parsley butter Mussels. Shrimp.
Where this dish comes from
Pollo alla diavola — devil's chicken — is one of the oldest Italian grilled chicken preparations, documented in Roman and Tuscan cookbooks of the 18th and 19th centuries. The "diavolo" designation refers to the aggressive heat of the cooking and the chili-heavy seasoning — two characteristics associated with the devil in Italian Catholic folk culture. The traditional preparation uses a whole spatchcocked bird pressed flat under a weight on a wood fire, cooking until the skin is genuinely charred and the meat is smoky from the fire beneath. The Calabrian chili oil version is a modern southern Italian adaptation that amplifies the heat character of the original.
Cheffy’s note
The weight is the technique. Without it, the chicken skin only contacts the pan in a few spots and you get a patchy, uneven sear. With weight pressing the entire bird flat, every millimeter of skin touches the pan simultaneously and the char is even and dramatic. Cast iron is non-negotiable — it holds the heat under the weight better than any other pan. The Calabrian chili oil goes on right before serving, not before cooking — cooking destroys its fresh, fruity heat.