Theimmigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of America had a custom of deep-frying poultry in lard and even prior to this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The Scottish immigrants would often work, live and dine with the indentured Africans and this lead to the Africans adding some new flavorings to the formula andproducingtheir own interpretationof fried chicken. These Africans later went on to become thefood preparersin many a Southern American family where deep-fried chicken became a common staple. They also discovered that it lasted well well inwarmweather in the times before refrigeration was everyday so was eaten on almost an every day basis as they walked to the cotton fields to work. Since then it has become the south's best choicefor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a male named James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 called “log of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his journal he noted that at mealtime the local people would eat fricassee of poultry which he went on to say “deep-fried chicken or something like that”. What he actually heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not crispy 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 celebrated culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy. Her process had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first published in 1747. The book was a success in the UK and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original formula...
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 the yolks of two eggsa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together well, 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 a fine browncolour and arrange them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with cut lemon and a fine gravy. These days, we have exchanged 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 went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
