Hart Naomi - Fried chicken & friends: the Hartsyard family cookbook

INTRODUCTION

GETTING ACROSS THE LINE

G regory has been cooking since he was 15, when he skateboarded to the only restaurant close enough to his home in rural Johnson, upstate New York. As a young adult, he dabbled briefly in snowboarding, but he soon realised he preferred the adrenaline of a bustling restaurant mid-service on a Saturday night, a rail full of tickets and 15 plates on the pass.

Me? Ive been a nun, a cow, a duckling, a whore, a servant, a princess and a dancing plate. That is to say, I used to perform in musical theatre and we met when I was in NYC living the dream. Well, maybe not quite the dream. I was very happy, but from memory I was also very poor and pretty tired. But then we opened a restaurant just after wed had a baby and I quickly recalibrated my thoughts on poverty and fatigue.

Its not a particularly original tale. We met at a restaurant where I was the hostess and he was the chef. We dated in secret and married 18 months later at a converted foundry in Queens. I always knew he wanted his own restaurant and I always said Id help him open it. He does back of house and I do front. And so it follows with this book. He led the charge on the recipes and I filled in the rest. But theres the rub.

He likes fried chicken; I dont. He likes potato bake; I like salad. He likes beer; I like dessert. It was just like the stage. Artistic differences already. So we decided to combine our likes and invite you all to one big Hartsyard fried chicken dinner party.

Where Gregorys from, fried chicken speaks of traditions and rituals. But fried chicken is not just a dish for special events. Fried chicken makes a special event thats the point. Its humble and egalitarian: everyone is equal when youre eating with your fingers. No pomp and circumstance here. And definitely no tablecloths. This is a party for all your favourite people, the ones with whom there is no need for pretence. Invite them over, make them a drink and tell them to get involved.

When I was a kid, I used to do a lot of cross-country running. I was never particularly great at it, mind you, and the leaders were usually so far in front I would have to rely on the brightly coloured flags tied around the trees to tell me which way to go.

I reckon following recipes without pictures is like cross-country running without the markers. How do you know what youre heading for? So, because this book is full of recipes designed by a chef, specifically for those of us who are not, weve included plenty of pictures to help you get across the finish line.

Most of the recipes are for a party of six; if you have more friends than we do, just make double.

NAOMI HART

W hen Gregory and I moved from New York to Los Angeles, I had to get an American drivers licence. By this time Id been living in the US for nearly six years, but there had never been cause to have one. Who drives a car in New York?!

Isnt it reassuring when you discover that another country does something as badly as your own? I am pleased to confirm that my experience in the American DMV was no less exasperating than what I have endured in Australia. I can guarantee that at both you will come out frustrated, sweaty and late for whatever activity you have to do next, no matter how much time you allow.