Welcome to a Taste of the Mediterranean

There’s a reason this flavor combination has survived literally thousands of years of Mediterranean cooking, and it’s not just because people in the Peloponnese had good vibes. It’s actual chemistry. The honey provides both sweetness and— here’s the nerdy part— fructose-driven Maillard browning at temperatures where plain chicken skin would still be sad and pale. Harold McGee explains in On Food and Cooking that sugars like honey caramelize at lower temps than sucrose, which means your chicken gets that gorgeous sticky-golden crust without needing to blast the oven to 500°F.