TheScottish immigrantsfrom the southern states of America had a custom of deep-frying poultry in lard and even further back they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The immigrants from Scotland would often work, live and eat with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some more seasonings to the mix andcreatingtheir own versionof fried chicken. These Africans later evolved to be thechefsin many a Southern American home where crispy fried chicken became a universal staple.
They also found that it lasted well well inhottemperatures before refrigeration was everyday so was consumed on almost a daily basis as they walked to the cotton fields to work. Since, it has become the southern state's go-tofor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a guy named James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 called “record of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his diary he noted that at meals the locals would eat fricassee of pullet which he went on to say “crispy fried chicken or something like that”. What he really 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 crispy deep-fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known food for deep-fried chicken in English is obscured in one of the most notable culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy. Her recipe had a strange name named “To Marinate Chickens” which was first published in 1747. The book was a hit in the United kingdom 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 eggsa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together thoroughly, 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 bronze incolour and serve them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with cut lemon and a fine gravy. Now, we have replaced 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 dish has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
