Fried chicken: almost everyone loves it, but it’s a tricky bird to master. The perfect balance of flavor, texture and juiciness is rarely achieved. This classic dish is so difficult to perfect because it requires a finessing of technique, heat, seasoning and moisture. Oil temperature, coating formulations and cooking time dramatically influence the result, potentially leading to either undercooked or overly greasy chicken when one element is out of whack. Enter unlicked fingers.
But where did this bonne bouche originate? Like many traditional dishes, fried chicken doesn’t have a single origin story. The earliest references to fried chicken are found in ancient Roman cookbooks, and across the North Sea in the land of haggis, the Scots were adept at frying chicken in fat.
However, fried chicken truly achieved legendary status in the American South, where African and Scottish influences converged to spark culinary greatness. Africans brought their mastery of seasonings, while Scottish immigrants brought their tradition of deep-frying this domesticated fowl. The result is what we now know as Southern fried chicken…