TheScottish immigrantsfrom the southern states of America had a tradition of deep frying chicken pieces in lard and even further back they used to fry fritters in the middle ages. The migrants from Scotland would often work, live and dine with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some supplementary flavorings to the procedure andproducingtheir own versionof deep-fried chicken. These Africans later evolved to be thecooksin many a Southern American house where crispy deep-fried chicken became a regular staple. They also learned that it travelled well inhotweather before refrigeration was common so was eaten on almost every day basis as they went to the cotton fields to work. Since then it has become the southern state's most suitable choicefor just about any occasion.
This is said to have come from a chap named James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 known as “log of a Tour to the Hebrides”. In his record he noted that at an evening meal the locals would eat fricassee of hen which he went on to say “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 food for deep-fried chicken in English is hidden away in one of the most well-known cooking books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy. Her mix had a strange name called “To Marinate Chickens” which was first published in 1747. The book was a success in the UK and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original recipe...
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 the yolks of two eggssome melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together very well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a first-class 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 plate with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with cut lemon and a first-rate gravy. Presently, we have replaced 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 formula has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
