TheScrotish migrantsfrom the southern states of America had a tradition of deep frying chicken in fat and even further back they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The Scottish immigrants would often labor, live and dine with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some supplementary flavorings to the recipe anddevelopingtheir own presentationof fried chicken. These Africans later became thecooksin many a Southern American home where crispy fried chicken became a ordinary staple. They also discovered that it journeyed well inhotclimate before refrigeration was prevalent so was eaten on almost every day basis as they walked to the cotton fields to work. Since then it has become the southern state's best optionfor just about any occasion.
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 journal he noted that at dinner the local people would eat fricassee of chicken which he went on to say “crispy fried chicken or something like that”. What he really heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.
The very true origins of fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known formula for crispy deep-fried chicken in English is stashed in one of the most famed cookery books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy. Her procedure had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first in print in 1747. The book was a success in the England and more importantly in the American Colonies.
Here is the original recipe...
Cut two chickens into quarters; lay 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 the yolks of two eggssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together very well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a good quality deal of pork shorteningwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of bronze incolour and place them on your dish with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a excellent gravy. These days, we have substituted the hog fat with Rapeseed oil which contains 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 procedure has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
