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1
Preheat the oven to 200 C or 400 degrees F.
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2
Put all the salt into a bowl with the fennel seeds, eggs, lemon juice (save the juiced lemon skins), peppercorns and a wineglass of water and mix together.
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3
Crush the thyme in a pestle and mortar and add a couple good glugs of olive oil.
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4
Rub this flavoured oil all over your chicken, pushing any extra inside the cavity along with the parsley, garlic and squeezed lemon halves.
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5
You want the cavity so full that no salt will be able to get in.
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6
Get four long pieces of tinfoil and put them on top of each other to make a sheet around a metre square.
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7
Lay on a third of the salt, spreading until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
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8
Put your chicken on top, then pack the rest of the salt around it, making sure not to pierce the skin.
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9
Carefully fold up the sides of the tinfoil and scrunch it at the top.
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10
You can rip off any extra tinfoil.
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11
Place the chicken in the preheated oven and cook for two hours.
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12
Remove and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
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13
Take it to the table, rip open the tinfoil and crack the salt crust.
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14
It will fall apart easily and you will have a juicy chicken ready to serve.
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15
A nice side dish is some horseradish, mixed with creme fraiche or some homemade mayonnaise and basil.
