Themigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of America had a custom of deep frying chicken in fat and even previously they used to fry fritters in the middle ages.
The Scottish immigrants would often work, live and dine with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some supplementary seasoning to the food andproducingtheir own interpretationof fried chicken.
These Africans later became thecaterersin many a Southern American family where crispy deep-fried chicken became a common staple.
This is said to have come from a man called James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 called “record of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his journal he noted that at mealtime the local folks would eat fricassee of rooster which he went on to say “crispy fried chicken or something like that”.
What he in fact heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also discovered that it lasted well well inhotconditions before refrigeration was seen everyday so was consumed on almost every day basis as they travelled to the cotton fields to labor.
Since, it has become the south's most suitable choicefor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of crispy fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known formula for crispy deep-fried chicken in English is stashed in one of the most prominent culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy.
Her process had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first available in 1747. The book was a success in the UK and more importantly in the US Colonies.
Here is the original procedure...
Joint 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 yolksa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together thoroughly, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a excellent deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of light golden incolour and arrange them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a first-rate gravy. Nowadays, we have changed 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 mix has journeyed worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
