Theimmigrants from Scotlandfrom the southern states of Usa had a tradition of deep frying chicken in fat and even previously they used to fry fritters in the middle ages.
The Scrotish migrants would often work, live and eat with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some extra spices to the recipe andbuildingtheir own interpretationof Southern Fried Chicken.
These Africans later evolved to be thefood preparersin many a Southern American family where fried chicken became a universal staple.
This is said to have come from a male known as James Boswell who wrote alogin 1773 called “record of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his log he noted that at mealtime the local people would eat fricassee of hen which he went on to say “crispy fried chicken or something like that”.
What he really 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 inhottemperatures prior to refrigeration was commonplace so was consumed on almost an every day basis as they went to the cotton fields to work.
Since then it has become the south's best choicefor just about any occasion.
The very true origins of deep-fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known recipe for fried chicken in English is hidden away in one of the most famed culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy.
Her food had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first in print in 1747. The book was a hit in the UK and more importantly in the US Colonies.
Here is the original formula...
Cut two chickens into quarters; lay 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 yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a fine deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of light golden incolour and lay them on your plate with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemons and a good gravy. Presently, we have replaced 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 mix has journeyed worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
