Theimmigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of America had a custom of deep frying chicken in lard and even before this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages.
The Scottish immigrants would often work, live and dine with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some more flavorings to the process andgeneratingtheir own interpretationof Southern Fried Chicken.
These Africans later became thecaterersin many a Southern American home where fried chicken became a common staple.
This is said to have come from a man named James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 called “diary of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his log he noted that at meals the local people would eat fricassee of rooster which he went on to say “deep-fried chicken or something like that”.
What he in reality heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not crispy fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also learned that it travelled well inhotclimate before refrigeration was common so was eaten on almost a daily basis as they journeyed to the cotton fields to labor.
Since then it has become the region’s best optionfor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of crispy fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known process for crispy fried chicken in English is obscured in one of the most notable cookery books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy.
Her procedure had a strange name named “To Marinate Chickens” which was first in print in 1747. The book was a success in the United kingdom and more importantly in the American Colonies.
Here is the original formula...
Cut two chickens into quarters; steep them in vinegar for 3-4 hours with pepper, salt, bay and a few cloves. Make a very thick batter first with ½ pint of wine and flour then 2 eeg yolksa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together thoroughly, dip yourchicken piecesin the batter and fry them in a fine deal of pork shorteningwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of light golden incolour and serve them on your plate with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with cut lemon and a high-quality gravy. Presently, we have swapped out the hog fat with Rapeseed oil which features nearly zero trans fats and we use a brine of buttermilk and salt to season our chicken throughout. It’s amazing to think how far this mix has walked worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
