TheScrotish migrantsfrom the southern states of America had a custom of deep frying poultry in fat and even prior to this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages.
The Scrotish migrants would often labor, live and eat with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some more flavorings to the food andproducingtheir own interpretationof deep-fried chicken.
These Africans later became thecaterersin many a Southern American home where deep-fried chicken became a typical staple.
This is said to have come from a chap known as James Boswell who wrote adiaryin 1773 known as “record of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his log he noted that at meals the local people would eat fricassee of pullet which he went on to say “deep-fried chicken or something like that”.
What he in reality heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also observed that it travelled well inwarmclimate before refrigeration was commonplace so was eaten on almost an every day basis as they walked to the cotton fields to labor.
Since then it has become the region’s go-tofor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of crispy deep-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 renowned cooking books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy.
Her formula had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first published in 1747. The book was a hit in the UK and more importantly in the American Colonies.
Here is the original food...
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 the yolks of two eggssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together well, dip yourchicken piecesin the batter and fry them in a first-class deal of pork shorteningwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of bronze incolour and place them on your plate with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemons and a high-quality gravy. Presently, we have substituted 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 formula has travelled worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
