TheScottish immigrantsfrom the southern states of America 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 work, live and dine with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some supplementary spices to the formula andmakingtheir own interpretationof crispy fried chicken.
These Africans later evolved to be thecooksin many a Southern American house where deep-fried chicken became a ordinary staple.
This is said to have come from a man named James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 named “log of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his record he noted that at mealtime the local people would eat fricassee of fowl which he went on to say “crispy fried chicken or something like that”.
What he actually heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also found out that it lasted well well inwarmclimate prior to refrigeration was commonplace so was consumed on almost a daily basis as they walked 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 crispy fried chicken we will probably never know but the earliest known process for deep-fried chicken in English is hidden away in one of the most celebrated culinary books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of cooking Made Plain and Easy.
Her dish had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first released in 1747. The book was a hit in the United kingdom and more importantly in the Usa 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 the yolks of two eggssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together 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 golden incolour and arrange them on your platter with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a excellent gravy. These days, we have changed the hog fat with Rapeseed oil which features 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 food has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
