Themigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of Usa had a tradition of deep-frying chicken in lard and even previously 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 other seasoning to the mix anddevelopingtheir own interpretationof deep-fried chicken.
These Africans later became thefood preparersin many a Southern American house where fried chicken became a common staple.
This is said to have come from a chap named James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 named “log 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 “crispy fried chicken or something like that”.
What he actually heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also found out that it journeyed well inhotconditions in the times before refrigeration was seen everyday so was eaten on almost every day basis as they went to the cotton fields to work.
Since then it has become the south's best choicefor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of deep-fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known recipe for crispy deep-fried chicken in English is obscured in one of the most celebrated cooking books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse known as The Art of cookery Made Plain and Easy.
Her recipe had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first in print in 1747. The book was a hit in the UK and more importantly in the US Colonies.
Here is the original process...
Joint two chickens into pieces; 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 yolksa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together very 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 a fine browncolour and set them on your bowl with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemons and a high-quality gravy. Presently, we have replaced 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 recipe has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
