Have you ever analyzed your thoughts and preferences on fried chicken? If not you should, ’cause it can tell a lot about a person. I don’t know exactly what it says, nor who it tells it to, but I am betting it is a lot.
Well, I have analyzed my thoughts and preferences on fried chicken. Here is my expose on fried chicken. I am a self-proclaimed aficionado.
a·fi·ci·o·na·do
/əˌfiSHəˈnädō,əˌfisyəˈnädō/
noun
- a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime.
“aficionados of the finest wines or fried chicken”
We have a local KJ’s grocery store in Hephzibah, Ga.
Their fried “anything” is awesome. Fried fish (Fridays) fried pork chops, fried chicken, fried okra, fried chicken strips, fried squash, etc. All is good. And they are the only cookery (is that a word) where I don’t have to salt my food. Don’t get me started on their casseroles. Oh my gosh. Mac and cheese, broccoli and rice, squash casserole, to mention a few. Then their vegetables…oh, the butter-beans, black eyed peas, stewed okra, corn , just stop me.
But back to the fried chicken post.
I have yet to meet a fried chicken I didn’t like.
Each with it’s own particular personality.
And make no mistake, while the juicy and texture is in the meat and not to be discounted, the initial flavoring is in the skin. Yep, if I could buy a box of fried chicken skin, I am addicted. I am having to suck the spittle from the corners of my mouth just from writing this.
In fact, let me relay a story to illustrate the lasting affects of eating fried chicken. I hope not to offend, but it really happened this way. Two cousins ate fried chicken after Sunday church at one of their mom’s house. She had a way with fried chicken. Later that day, they were working on a project together, and one of the cousins had a case of “wind,” if you understand. As he passed the “wind,” the other cousin looked up and asked, “Do you have some of your momma’s fried chicken nearby? I just smelled it wafting by my nose.”
Good fried chicken stays with you!
Kentucky Fried Chicken is the tenderest, hands down. It can also be the messiest to eat. Original recipe only, get that extra crispy variation away from me. Col. Harland Sanders worked hard at finding those 11 herbs and spices to pressure cook fry chickens. His ship came in when he franchised KFC at age 62. Pretty hard to deny its excellence. Yet it doesn’t appeal everyday and is relatively pricey these days. Strange how it seems they wanted to separate any association with Kentucky, or fried, by rebranding themselves KFC. Heck, I know what that stands for….Doesn’t everyone? Neither Kentucky nor fried offend me.
Churches chicken really lights my fire. Their strangely cut pieces are a bit confusing, and sometimes I see breast meat on my thigh. But their seasoning is spot on. Not too spicy, not too hot, yet not bland. They hold the distinction of the largest array of different sides such as honey-butter biscuits, fries, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, wild west rice, macaroni salad, jalapeno poppers, mac & cheese, fried okra, buttered corn on cob.
Bojangles and Popeyes are really in the same species of spicy fried chicken. Yeah, I like spicy chicken. The difference between the two is marginal. Popeyes seems to have hotter oil, which gives a crispier skin to their pieces. Don’t get me wrong, both are good, both are spicy. Popeyes biscuits are better, but Bojangles breakfast cinnamon roll is better. The winning edge may be in the sides, but I will leave that to the reader to decide.
Then there is Maryland Fried Chicken. Oh, the memories when me, brothers and my dad would eat here on Augusta’s East Boundary at lunch break from the morning’s work. The chicken is good, with its own unique flavor and a fry harder than most. While it almost bordered on being overcooked, the spices used redeemed each piece. Biscuits were always served with the honey packets, and they were one of the earliest to serve the box lunch with a moist towelette lodged firmly in my childhood memory.
Then Wife Saver enters the screen. Chicken fried to a golden crisp. Crinkle cut french fry and mac and cheese which is signatory. Little biscuits just the right size. Don’t forget the nanna pudding. Sadly, like Maryland Fried Chicken, Wife Savers are rare to find.
So, there it is. I never met a fried chicken I didn’t like. Wait, me and Mrs. Winner’s chicken had a most unfortunate meeting on the east side of Atlanta. Chicken was good, the aftermath was horrible. I will leave it to your imagination to figure that out, but a hint is a perfectly good pair of skivvies and trousers were lost after eating there and getting caught in a parking lot standstill at the interchange of I-20 and I-75 Northwest of Atlanta. Thankfully, there is only one witness still alive. It didn’t smell like chicken!
I love fried chicken and look forward to your comments.
