Lee Brian Schrager - Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for Americas Best Fried Chicken and Sides

To my parents, Ken and Marlene Schrager,
who recognized early on that being
different is sometimes better.

WHO DOESNT DIG FRIED CHICKEN? If youre a vegan you probably dont, and in that case put this book down, coz youre not going to be able to resist the desire for that chicken. Fried chicken is a staple in many cultures. Its comfort food, and it isnt a black, Asian, or white Southern thingits a human thing. I LOVE my fried chicken. I mean I really, really, really, really LOVE my fried chicken. Nothing makes me or my mouth happier. I remember my mom taking the brown paper bag, adding the flour, putting in the chicken and shaking, shaking, shaking. And when it hit the oil that smell! Im not much of a cook myself, but I do know my fried chicken. (I cook a mean turkey once a year at Thanksgiving; really slow, all night, and baste, baste, baste). But fried chicken is my one true love.

Each year there is something called the Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festivals. A few years ago, the very amazing Rachael Ray couldnt make it to her event, the Burger Bash. The most generous man, Lee Schrager, approached me to fill in. Now, who doesnt like a great burger? So that was an easy yes for me! But as I was walking from station to station sampling all the burgers from everywhere, I turned to Lee and suggested a fried chicken event for the following year. Im proud to be part of Chicken Coupe, now going into its fourth year in New York and its third year in Miami. (Thanks, Lee!) But who knew Lee was such a fried chicken fan, too? He says writing a fried chicken cookbook wasnt always on his bucket list but now Im not so sure.

Fried & True doesnt just give you 50-plus fried chicken recipesfrom the ones Lee picked up on his road trip to some from the best restaurants, in some of the best cities in the worldbut also the stories that go along with them and make for some good reading. My favorite is Fried Chicken 101yup, tips! Um-hm dont crowd, and give each piece time. Thats good advice.

Thanks, LeeIm hoping to meet some of these recipes at the next Chicken Coupe event.

MY EARLIEST CHILDHOOD FOOD MEMORIESrevolve around fried chicken, my adult food obsession. Growing up on Long Island in the town of Massapequa, I always looked forward to my mothers best homemade dish: fried chicken, which she prepared in her burnt-orange Le Creuset Dutch oven to much approval from my father, my two brothers, and myself. On Saturday evenings, when my parents would head out for date night, theyd order dinner to be delivered from our favorite restaurant, Chicken Delight. I can still see the beat-up red Volkswagen delivery vehicle, with a smiling plastic bird perched on the roof, pulling into our driveway on Beverly Road. As it arrived, the bird would seem to chirp: Dont cook tonight, call Chicken Delight! Nowadays I cant seem to remember where I ate dinner the week before, but even more than forty years later, those two off-white cardboard plates, stapled together to form a covered dish, are crystal clear in my minds eye. Inside was a full quarter of miraculously hot fried chicken, the longest, tastiest fries known to mankind, and a Parker House roll that absorbed the chickens delicious grease. Im also incredibly nostalgic for the all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet at Howard Johnsons. Held underneath the restaurants iconic orange rooftop, the buffet included mountains of fried chicken, creamy coleslaw, and as many fries as you could eat.

It was a sad day indeed when my friends and I were politely asked not to return to that HoJos on Sunrise Boulevard; we had surpassed the per-person limit at an all-you-can-eat buffet. To this day, its nearly impossible for me to resist ordering a plate of fried chicken, whether it be from a strip mall, white-tablecloth restaurant, Korean restaurant, or a take-out joint I pass while driving on the highway. Im proud to say that these days I usually skip the fries and soda, but I almost never leave the biscuit untouched.

Fried chicken has a long storied, and much beloved history in this country. It is believed that Scottish immigrants originally brought the dish to the United States in the 1700s. West African slaves added their own spices and techniques, perfecting the dish in both their masters kitchens and their own; some even sold poultry and made fried chicken in their spare time to sell for extra income. From that original tradition the dish traveled across the country, and in the past decade or so its begun to rival other American mainstaysburgers, pizza, barbecuein popularity. And as we speak, fried chicken is clearly having a momenteverywhere you look, restaurants are perfecting an authentic Southern version, or lending their own touches and ethnic influences. When the idea for a whole book on the subject came to me a couple of years back, this it food was still gathering steam. When I added a fried chicken event, aptly named FRIED and now in its third year as Chicken Coupe, to the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, I had no idea what Id be starting. Our nations great chefs, secret frybird lovers at heart, have had a lot to do with it, researching and experimenting and elevating the dish in ways you may not seebut can certainly taste.