Fried Chicken
Sunday, 9 February 2025 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / NordamerikaCategory/Kategorie: General, Bon appétit Reading Time: 7 minutes
Fried chicken, waffles, fried sweet potatoes and fruit, with sauces, for brunch © flickr.com – karendotcom127/cc-by-2.0
The first dish known to have been deep fried was fritters, which were popular in the European Middle Ages. However, the Scottish were the first to have been recorded as deep frying their chicken in fat with breadcrumbs and seasonings, as evidenced by a recipe in a 1747 cookbook by Hannah Glasse and a 1773 diary entry describing fried chicken on the Isle of Skye. The first known recipe in the USA did not contain the seasonings that were in the earlier Scottish recipe. There is an English cookbook from 1736 which mentions fried chicken, the “Dictionarium Domesticum”, by Nathan Bailey, where it is called “a marinade of chickens”. Meanwhile, in later years many West African peoples had traditions of seasoned fried chicken (though battering and cooking the chicken in palm oil).
Fried chicken has been described as being “crunchy” and “juicy”, as well as “crispy”. The dish has also been called “spicy” and “salty”. Occasionally, fried chicken is also topped with chili like paprika, or hot sauce to give it a spicy taste. This is especially common in fast food restaurant chains such as KFC. The dish is traditionally served with mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, corn or biscuits. The dish is renowned for being greasy, especially when coming from fast food outlets. It has even been reported that some of those who enjoy eating the food limit themselves to eating it only a certain number of times a year, to keep their fat intake reasonably low. Out of the various parts of the animal used in fried chicken, the wings generally tend to contain the most fat, with almost 40 grams (1.4 oz) of fat for every 100 grams (3.5 oz). However, the average whole fried chicken contains only around 12% fat, or 12 grams (0.42 oz) per every 100 grams (3.5 oz). 100 grams (3.5 oz) of fried chicken generally contains around 240 calories of energy.
Fried chicken provided some means of an independent economy for enslaved and segregated African-American women, who became noted sellers of poultry (live or cooked) as early as the 1730s though this was cooked on a griddle. Because of the expensive nature of the ingredients, it was, despite popular belief, a rare dish in the African-American community reserved (as in Africa) for special occasions.
When it was introduced to the American South, Southern fried chicken became a common staple. Later, as the slave trade led to Africans being brought to work on southern plantations, the enslaved people became cooks. Since most enslaved people were unable to raise expensive meats, but were generally allowed to keep chickens, frying chicken on special occasions continued in the African-American communities of the South, especially in the periods of segregation that closed off most restaurants to the black population.
American-style fried chicken gradually passed into everyday use as a general Southern dish, especially after the abolition of slavery, and its popularity spread. Since fried chicken traveled well in hot weather before refrigeration was commonplace and industry growth reduced its cost, it gained further favor across the South. Fried chicken continues to be among this region’s top choices for “Sunday dinner”. Southern Jews blended Southern and Jewish foodways to make fried chicken a mainstay of Shabbat dinners alongside charoset and braided loaves of challah.
Holidays such as Independence Day and other gatherings often feature this dish. During the 20th century, chain restaurants focused on fried chicken began among the boom in the fast food industry. Brands such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Popeyes expanded in the United States and across the world.
Before the industrialization of chicken production and the creation of broiler breeds of chicken, only young spring chickens (pullets or cockerels) would be suitable for the higher heat and relatively fast cooking time of frying making fried chicken a luxury of spring and summer. Older, tougher birds require longer cooking times at lower temperatures. To compensate for this, sometimes tougher birds are simmered till tender, allowed to cool and dry, and then fried.
Read more on bbcgoodfood.com – Next level fried chicken, thekitchn.com – Crispy, Juicy Fried Chicken (Better Than KFC!), Cuisine of the Southern United States and Wikipedia Fried Chicken (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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