How to joint a chicken

Recipes are always telling you to joint a chicken, and you can "ask your butcher to do this for you".

This week, I asked my butcher to joint a chicken for me and he gave me a rather alarming look and I could swear that he and his fellow butchers were having a good laugh at my expense. I finally made him understand what I wanted and I left the shop with my jointed chicken and a puzzled look on my face.

My butcher shop has recently changed hands. Phil, my old butcher, would have known instantly what I was talking about and would have had that chicken in eight pieces before we had had time to discuss the weather. The new butcher, Jeremy, looks about 15 and far too young to be in charge of sharp knives.

A few days later, a light went on in my head. Jeremy thought I was asking him to give a chicken a funny cigarette!

I hope the chicken didn't inhale!