TheScottish immigrantsfrom the southern states of Usa had a tradition of deep-frying chicken pieces in fat and even prior to this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The migrants from Scotland would often labor, live and eat with the indentured Africans and this lead to the Africans adding some additional seasonings to the procedure andbuildingtheir own versionof fried chicken. These Africans later became thecooksin many a Southern American household where deep-fried chicken became a prevalent staple. They also discovered that it journeyed well inwarmweather conditions prior to refrigeration was everyday so was eaten on almost an every day basis as they travelled to the cotton fields to labor. Since then it has become the region’s top choicefor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a man named James Boswell who wrote ajournalin 1773 named “diary of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his record he noted that at an evening meal the locals would eat fricassee of poultry which he went on to say “crispy 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 deep-fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known dish for crispy fried chicken in English is stashed in one of the most notable cookery books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy. Her mix had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first released in 1747. The book was a hit in the England and more importantly in the US Colonies.
Here is the original dish...
Cut two chickens into pieces; 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 very well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a first-class deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of a fine browncolour and arrange them on your dish with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with cut lemon and a high-quality 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 process has walked worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
