After eight years in Dubai, I became accustomed to the great outdoors, even when summer temperatures reached 57°C with 100% humidity. I became friends with a sheikh who owned an RV camp in the desert in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, where I was also head of food and beverage at the hospital. We cooked market fish, barbecued chicken and vegetables around a fire pit fuelled with wood gathered from the desert. Winter evenings under the stars, wrapped in a blanket, were magical. This recipe saved us a trip into town. Served with bread, pickles, salad, garlic and chilli dressing, it made the perfect late-evening snack.

I met my learned friend Neil at Gatwick Airport before flying to Lyon for a Sideways-style wine tour of Burgundy and the southern Rhône. We went during Semaine du Goût, the annual week-long festival that promotes culinary appreciation and education.

That year, the dish commemorated Henry IV’s wish that every French person should be able to eat chicken on a Sunday. We drove to Bresse, home of the black-feathered chicken, and bought probably the most expensive chicken I have ever purchased.

You can enrich the dish with cooked mushrooms. Stir a tablespoon of flour into a small tub of crème fraîche, then whisk it into the cooking liquor.

This is a milder curry than the green version. You can spice it up with fresh red chilli and extra red curry paste. Serve with Thai jasmine rice. It is an easy midweek dish for two, with plenty of leftovers. For a vegan version, omit the chicken and use vegetable stock, then add extra vegetables such as courgette, aubergine and bean sprouts; check that your curry paste is vegan.