Theimmigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of Us had a custom of deep-frying chicken pieces in fat and even further back 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 other flavorings to the process andproducingtheir own presentationof crispy fried chicken.
These Africans later became thecaterersin many a Southern American family where deep-fried chicken became a common staple.
This is said to have come from a fellow known as James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 known as “diary of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his record he noted that at meals the locals would eat fricassee of capon which he went on to say “crispy deep-fried chicken or something like that”.
What he really heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also observed that it travelled well inwarmconditions prior to refrigeration was seen everyday so was consumed on almost every day basis as they journeyed to the cotton fields to labor.
Since then it has become the region’s top choicefor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known procedure for fried chicken in English is hidden away in one of the most notable culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy.
Her process 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 Usa Colonies.
Here is the original formula...
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 2 eeg yolksa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together very well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a good quality 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 plate with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemons and a high-quality gravy. These days, we have changed 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 formula has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
