Fork In The Road: Fried Chicken Southern Style

Colonel Sanders shared his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices with us in the 20th century, and thus fried chicken made at home slowly became a thing of the past to many since the ease of picking up a batch without going through the work has its perks. Since that time, homemade fried chicken, with mashed ‘taters, fresh biscuits and honey, of course, became something that today’s young think only comes in a bucket or a box.

Everyone who shares my kind of childhood memory will conjure up a picture of fried chicken and the fixing’s as the Sunday dinner with the entire family. And I do mean entire – the uncles and aunts, cousins and grandparents, even great grandparents. The recollection is a picture all of the family gathered round the table after a good Bible thumping at church, sharing a meal. A wing and a drumstick still bring a song to my heart. I figure we all also believe our family created some of the best fried chicken ever to touch our lips. And that is as it should be … in our memories anyway.

Good fried chicken is like really good pizza and can be eaten either hot or cold, making it the perfect staple for a picnic and the perfect quick next-day lunch. Pack it up, and ride to the park and then tell me I’m wrong.

I don’t really know if we southerners were the first to fry chicken but I like to think we perfected the technique. I do realize that there are about two or three zillion different fried chicken style recipes including the ones with sauces like General Joe’s overly sweet and gooey, the Cajun-style fiery hot, Indian, pollo frito, whatever, but I don’t count that as “southern” fried chicken as I am sure you don’t either.

A little research finds that the Scots are given the responsibility for first frying their chicken. Probably this was a just another way to serve up “Ms. Too-Tough Chicken” anyhow that’s my thoughts on the subject. The first recorded recipe was in the third printing of “Virginia House-Wife” (1828) by Mary Randolph. Over the years her simple recipe has been revamped numerous times including by the “Colonel” and by Mr. Popeye. From the simple dredging of cut up chicken parts in flour, salt and pepper fried in fat to the high-falutin‘ process we have today, it’s no real surprise people aren’t frying the chicken for themselves any longer. “Too much time and too much trouble” is what most people would say. There can be some lively dialogue about what constitutes “real” southern fried chicken. How the chicken is coated, is there a batter or merely a seasoned flour dredge? Do you double dip? And of course, the fat, to use bacon grease, lard or Wesson oil (it all comes back but one tablespoon or so the commercial told us)? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the skin stays but some recipes that affirm themselves as the true southern version tell you to remove the skin before battering. I think not. Here are some of my “truths” to lip smacking perfect southern fried chicken. No batter, flour seasoned dredge only, corn oil such as Wesson to which ideally bacon grease has been added and a black cast iron skillet and an overnight soak for “little...

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