TheScottish immigrantsfrom the southern states of Us had a custom of deep frying chicken pieces in fat and even before this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The Scottish immigrants would often labor, live and eat with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some extra flavorings to the process andbuildingtheir own versionof fried chicken. These Africans later evolved to be thecooksin many a Southern American house where crispy deep-fried chicken became a regular staple. They also observed that it journeyed well inwarmtemperatures in the times before refrigeration was prevalent so was eaten on almost every day basis as they travelled to the cotton fields to labor. Since then it has become the southern state's preferred choicefor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a male known as James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 called “log of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his record he noted that at dinner the locals would eat fricassee of capon which he went on to say “crispy 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 fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known procedure for deep-fried chicken in English is obscured in one of the most recognized cooking books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse known as 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 UK and more importantly in the US Colonies.
Here is the original process...
Cut two chickens into pieces; 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 yolkssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together thoroughly, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a high-quality deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of bronze incolour and serve them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a first-class gravy. Now, we have swapped out 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 mix has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
