Smokin’ fried chicken

“As American as apple pie.” How often is that saying heard? The problem is, apple pie isn’t really all that American — or at least not exclusively American. Apple pie in various traditional forms can be found throughout Europe from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, from Ireland to Eastern Europe; South Africa to South America to Australia and New Zealand.

A more accurate saying would be, “as American as fried chicken.” Admittedly, that doesn’t have the same ring. But as far as I know, only Austria has a preparation similar to American fried chicken — Wiener backhendl, usually eaten in spring. The preparation is similar to Wienerschnitzel: the chicken pieces are dredged sequentially in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs before being fried.

Fried chicken was a spring/early summer specialty in America, too, before freezing made long-term preservation of uncooked chickens possible. Chickens hatched in spring, and it was only then that they were tender enough to be suitable for frying. As the year progressed, the birds would toughen and be roasted, boiled, or stewed. My grandfather used to reminisce that their rich city relatives somehow always showed up, uninvited, at their farm on the first spring Sunday that his mother made fried chicken, ensuring he and his eight brothers and sisters would only get necks and backs.

Even when suitable chickens became available year-round, fried chicken was a big deal. For home cooks, frying anything made enough mess that it wasn’t usually an everyday method of preparation. Folks would drive long distances to restaurants that specialized in fried chicken, such as the White Fence Farm outside Chicago. Growing up, fried chicken at my home was either for Sunday dinner or special occasions, still mostly in spring and early summer. We had a yearly Fourth of July party for around 100 people. It was a potluck — except my mom and grandmother made enough fried chicken for everyone. They’d begin frying at dawn, and usually were just finishing as guests began arriving.

For reasons I’ve never quite understood, fried chicken was the bring-along choice whenever my family went on extended road trips. No simple mess-free sandwiches for us, no sir. It was always fried chicken and deviled eggs. We rarely got past Litchfield before somebody started opening the Tupperware.

These days, fast food franchises such as KFC have made fried chicken cheap and easy — it certainly isn’t special, nor much of a treat; and regularly eating much of any fried food isn’t healthy. Maybe it’s time to restore fried chicken to its rightful place of honor.

Use free-range chickens. They have incredible flavor (even the breasts!) and aren’t laden with drugs and artificial hormones. They’re available at the Farmer’s Market from May to October and at Food Fantasies year-round.

Use a good quality oil (I use a combination of canola oil and unhydrogenated lard — see the RealCuisine 10/23/08 column for more about unhydrogenated lard and where to find it). Season it well, keep the breading simple and rediscover how special fried chicken can be. To really “guild the lily,” try the smoked variation on the next page — it’s worth crowing about!

Contact Juilianne Glatz at [email protected]