Themigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of Usa had a custom of deep frying poultry in lard and even before this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The Scrotish migrants would often work, live and dine with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some extra flavorings to the recipe andcreatingtheir own interpretationof fried chicken. These Africans later went on to become thecooksin many a Southern American house where crispy deep-fried chicken became a ordinary staple. They also learned that it lasted well well inwarmclimatic conditions before refrigeration was seen everyday so was eaten on almost every day basis as they went to the cotton fields to work. Since, it has become the region’s best choicefor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a chap known as James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 known as “record of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his record he noted that at meals the locals would eat fricassee of fowl which he went on to say “deep-fried chicken or something like that”. What he in actual fact heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.
The very true origins of deep-fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known formula for fried chicken in English is obscured in one of the most well-known culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy. Her dish had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first published in 1747. The book was a hit in the UK and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original dish...
Cut two chickens into pieces; 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 2 eeg yolkssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together thoroughly, dip yourchicken piecesin the batter and fry them in a good 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 good quality gravy. Nowadays, we have swapped out the hog fat with Rapeseed oil which has 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 journeyed worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
