TheScrotish migrantsfrom the southern states of Us had a custom of deep-frying poultry in lard and even further back they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The immigrants from Scotland would often labor, live and eat with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some more seasonings to the recipe andmakingtheir own interpretationof deep-fried chicken. These Africans later went on to become thefood preparersin many a Southern American house where crispy deep-fried chicken became a regular staple.
They also found that it travelled well inwarmweather conditions before refrigeration was common so was consumed on almost a daily basis as they walked to the cotton fields to labor. Since then it has become the region’s best optionfor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a fellow named James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 known as “log of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his record he noted that at an evening meal the local people would eat fricassee of capon which he went on to say “fried chicken or something like that”. What he in actuality heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not crispy deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.
The very true origins of crispy fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known procedure for crispy fried chicken in English is stashed in one of the most famous cookery books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of cookery Made Plain and Easy. Her procedure had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first available in 1747. The book was a hit in the United kingdom and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original procedure...
Cut two chickens into quarters; marinate 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 well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a good deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of golden incolour and lay them on your bowl with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon slices and a first-rate gravy. Now, 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 procedure has walked worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
