I’ve just returned from Charleston, South Carolina, on a learning adventure with Road Scholar, the nonprofit educational travel organization for seniors. (There has to be some benefit to getting older!)
Road Scholar does a marvelous job of providing knowledgeable lecturers and tour guides, and Charleston was the perfect place to learn some of our nation’s history, seamy side and all.
One of the plantations we visited was the 18th century Middleton Place, a carefully preserved national historic landmark that survived the American revolution, the Civil War, economic upheavals and the devastating earthquake of 1886.
But beyond the breathtaking gardens and grand residence were the more than 2,800 enslaved Africans and African Americans – seven generations – owned by the Middleton family from 1738 to 1865 who made their economic empire and way of life possible.
The Middleton Place Foundation, a nonprofit educational trust that owns and operates Middleton Place, has made its key mission to research, document and share their stories. Their comprehensive 10-year study led to a permanent exhibit, Eliza’s House, a Reconstruction-era African American freedman’s dwelling; a book, “Beyond the Fields – Slavery at Middleton Place” published in 2008; and a documentary film of the same name.
At lunchtime we were treated to a typical Southern spread including some iconic Southern dishes: collard greens, corn pudding, biscuits, cornbread and, of course, Southern fried chicken.
If you think Col. Sanders invented the dish, you would be wrong. Early accounts from China, the Middle East, and West Africa go as far back as 9,500 years ago. Many believe that the Scots, who emigrated to the South in the 1700s and brought with them their custom of frying chicken in fat, invented the dish. Others believe it was brought from Africa.
The earliest published recipe for fried chicken appeared in “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” by an English cook, Hannah Glasse. The recipe called for frying seasoned and floured chicken in lard.
The first recipe for fried chicken in the United States was printed in 1824 in “The Virginia House-Wife” by Mary Randolph, a White woman from a slaveholding family and a distant relative of Thomas Jefferson.
With the advent of fast food – Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye’s, Chick-fil-A and the like – this Southern dish went national.
Fullerton’s Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook.” Her website is cookingjewish.com.
PERFECT SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN
Southern cooks use a marinade of buttermilk for its distinctive tangy flavor. I found this authentic Southern version in “Deep South Dish: Homestyle Southern Recipes” (Quail Ridge Press, $19.95) by Mary Foreman.
If you don’t have a thermometer, oil is generally ready when a pinch of flour tossed in sizzles.
Ingredients:
Brine 1:
- 1 (3 to 4 pound) whole fryer, cut up
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt8 to 10 ice cubes
Brine 2:
- About 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 cup hot sauce
Chicken:
- 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Peanut oil or cooking oil, for frying
- 2 tablespoons bacon fat, lard, or shortening
Method:
1. Brine 1: In large non-metallic bowl, dissolve salt in enough water to cover chicken; stir in ice. Add chicken; cover; refrigerate overnight.
2. Brine 2: Next morning, drain, and return chicken to bowl; cover chicken with buttermilk; mix in hot sauce; cover, and refrigerate until supper time.
3. Drain chicken in colander 15 minutes until room temperature.
4. Chicken: In large bowl, whisk flour with all seasonings. Set aside 1/3 cup; coat chicken pieces; place on rack.
5. Fill chicken fryer or cast–iron skillet with enough oil so chicken will completely submerge; add bacon fat. Heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry chicken in small batches, 10 to 14 minutes. Regulate heat; maintain 375 degrees. Drain on paper towels.
6. For gravy, stir 1/3 cup flour into 1/3 cup frying oil in skillet over medium heat until browned. Add 2 cups water; bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened.
