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 eat with the African slaves and this lead to the Africans adding some extra seasoning to the process andbuildingtheir own presentationof fried chicken.
These Africans later went on to become thecooksin many a Southern American house where deep-fried chicken became a prevalent staple.
This is said to have come from a gentleman known as James Boswell who wrote arecordin 1773 known as “diary of a Tour to the Hebrides”.
In his record he noted that at mealtime the local people would eat fricassee of hen which he went on to say “fried chicken or something like that”.
What he in reality heard was the Scottish dish Friars Chicken, not crispy deep-fried chicken but you could say that where it was first named.They also learned that it travelled well inwarmclimatic conditions before refrigeration was prevalent so was consumed on almost every day basis as they travelled to the cotton fields to labor.
Since then it has become the south's most suitable choicefor just about any occasion.
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 prominent cooking books of the 18th century by Hannah Glasse named The Art of culinary Made Plain and Easy.
Her food had a strange name named “To Marinate Chickens” which was first released in 1747. The book was a success in the United kingdom and more importantly in the Usa Colonies.
Here is the original mix...
Cut two chickens into pieces; 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 2 eeg yolksa little melted butter and nutmeg. Beat it all together well, dip yourfowlsin the batter and fry them in a good deal of pork lardwhich must boil first before you put your fowl in. Let them be of light golden incolour and arrange them on your bowl with a garnish of fried parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and a superior gravy. Nowadays, 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 dish has went worldwide and how different cultures have adopted their own versions.
