The History Of Fried Chicken

The American English expression "fried chicken" was first recorded in the 1830s, and frequently appears in American cookbooks of the 1860s and 1870s.  The origin of fried chicken in the southern states of America has been traced to precedents in Scottish and West African cuisine.  Scottish fried chicken was cooked in fat, but unseasoned, while West African fried chicken was seasoned, but battered and cooked in palm oil. Scottish frying techniques and African seasoning techniques were used in the American South by enslaved Africans.