British media: The origin of American fried chicken and slavery

Source: Global Times

An article on the British "Economist" weekly website on July 2, original title: American fried chicken originated from slavery. Southern fried chicken in the United States is delicious, but Objectively speaking, it is no better than any other type of fried chicken. However, it is American fried chicken, or American Southern fried chicken to be exact, that takes over the world. Southern fried chicken owes its global influence largely to a bearded colonel in a white suit and his mysterious recipe of herbs and spices. But the history of fried chicken is much older than the self-styled colonel, and more disturbing than his placid smile might suggest.

The origins of American fried chicken may have something to do with Scotland and West Africa. In the 18th century, 145,000 Scots came to the American South and brought with them a tradition of batter-fried chicken. Nearly 500,000 enslaved West Africans in North America brought their own cooking skills of fried chicken and chicken stew. It was these African Americans who perfected the art of fried chicken. In those days, chicken was just a seasonal dish. Spring chicks are best suited for frying, and the entire process is laborious. Once a chicken is selected, it must be caught, killed, blanched, plucked, gutted, burned off the fine hairs, and cut into chunks before it can be floured, seasoned, and fried.

Colonial-era landowners preferred beef and pork and did not consider chicken a decent meat. So in 1741, South Carolina and North Carolina revised their laws to not allow slaves to own pigs, cattle, or horses, but chickens were left out. Other Southern states soon implemented similar laws. The chickens were left on the manure pile, foraged in the yard, and became increasingly important to the slaves. During the American Civil War, soldiers, especially Confederate soldiers, increasingly struggled to find enough food. Chickens became more valuable and poaching became increasingly common, with doctors, priests, workers, chefs and even Mark Twain being accused of the crime. However, the only group prosecuted were black Americans. In 1876, a black woman in Virginia was charged with stealing a chicken. As part of the evidence, the hens were brought to court to identify their offspring. The hen convinced the court that she recognized her baby, causing the woman to be whipped 39 times.

Before the 20th century, the connection between black people and chicken stealing was firmly fixed in the minds of white Americans. An 1882 New York Times article asked why "in the breast of every colored man" there is "a mysterious, intense, and unstoppable desire for chickens?" The article read: "He He felt in every fiber of his body that chickens were created for the benefit of people of color, and that whenever he saw them, he deserved to catch them. and die”.

A scene from the 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation" shows an African-American congressman eating fried chicken with his feet on his desk. Claire Schmidt, a scholar at Missouri Valley College, believes that the continued output of advertisements and related pop culture images of black people greedily eating fried chicken with their hands reinforces racist stereotypes about "dirty, crude, undisciplined and ignorant." Even today, some black people are still reluctant to eat fried chicken in public places.

However, despite or perhaps because of the perceived relationship, Harland Sanders, a white man, founded the KFC chain and made it popular It has become a big global business. Efforts by African-American fried chicken businesses to "recapture" fried chicken have not been entirely successful. In the 1960s, American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson became the spokesperson for a national fried chicken chain that wanted to challenge KFC. In the end, Colonel Sanders defeated her and most of the other contenders. (Author Josie Delap, translated by Wang Huicong)