TheScrotish migrantsfrom the southern states of Usa had a custom of deep-frying chicken in lard and even before this they used to fry fritters in the middle ages.
The Scottish immigrants would often work, live and eat with the African Americans and this lead to the Africans adding some supplementary flavorings to the process andcreatingtheir own presentationof Southern Fried Chicken.
These Africans later evolved to be thechefsin many a Southern American house where crispy deep-fried chicken became a regular staple.
This is said to have come from a gentleman named James Boswell who wrote ajournalin 1773 named “journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his journal he noted that at meals the locals would eat fricassee of rooster 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 learned that it travelled well inwarmconditions in the times before refrigeration was prevalent so was eaten on almost an every day basis as they journeyed to the cotton fields to work.
Since then it has become the southern state's preferred 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 obscured in one of the most famed cookery books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse called The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy.
Her food had a strange name known as “To Marinate Chickens” which was first in print in 1747. The book was a hit in the England and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original formula...
Joint 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 well, dip yourchicken piecesin 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 light golden incolour and lay them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a good quality gravy. Now, we have exchanged 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 procedure has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
