Fried chicken — a taste of America

What makes American cuisine American and so special? Well, the answer is that American cuisine is simple yet technique- and process-oriented, which makes it so special and allows it to be present in every corner of the world. American cuisine also reflect its history in is food culture, which many of you may not know about. The food trend also changes depending on the cultural, biographical and demographical factors of a region. This century in particular has been through a staggering transformation. People have transformed their mode of transport from horses to supersonic jets and a personal computer is multiple times faster than the initial supercomputers. The food that we eat has not progressed in the same proportion but has still changed tremendously. The land of opportunity attracts a vast majority of population from the globe and thus makes it a diaspora of multi-cultural and multi ethnic society. With an immigration scale of this size, there is a vast population of people who choose to call America their new home. Thus they bring along their food trends and habits. The food culture and industry in America is so huge that the food and service industry is the biggest employment sector. Native American cuisine was influenced by the European cooking culture, which was carried over by European explorers. They depended on animals for clothing and meat, like British cuisine. Their initial diet varied on the settling region of the travellers. Today the food service industry is worth billions of dollars in United States. During the 18th century, Americans developed many new food items and there was an industrial revolution to meet up the growing demand of the country. Then came the era of fusion of ethnic food and it was Americanised. Initial celebrity chefs led to the rise of cable channels such as food networks and other related shows. When you look at all the latest popular USA foods like hamburgers, pizza, tacos, fried chicken, apple pie, burgers, tacos, chocolates, milk shakes, ice creams, steaks, potato, melons, salads, hot dogs and many more, they all came from different countries. To simplify the topic being discussed, you can say that the American foods concentrate primarily on the three raw materials namely maize, squash and beans. But it will be wrong to call American cuisine as one generic food trend or set of dishes, which I hear all the times. Food and its cooking methods, techniques, dining customs, religious observance varied from one tribe to another and improved with generations. Native Americans depended upon local foods; people living in the northeast ate different food as compared to those living in the great plains, southwest and pacific northwest. People living in cold climates employed different preservation techniques from those living in deserts. I consider this as a very remarkable achievement that America has been able to industrialise the food industry and has been able to replicate its popular food joints all over the globe, which no other country has been able to do successfully. One very popular dish that America is known for is the fried chicken. You can spot at least one food joint serving fried chicken in almost every block on the street. The dish may sound simple, but every restaurant has its own claim of how their recipe is better than others. Country Style Fried Chicken StripsIngredientsChicken breast, boneless 4 noSalt to tasteLime juice 1 tspBlack pepper, crushes to tasteAll-purpose flour 1 cupGarlic powder 1/3 tspParsley powder ½ tspCorn starch ¼ cupCayenne pepper ½ tspPaprika powder ¼ tspEggs 3 noOil to fryMethod Wash and pat dry the chicken breast and cut into 1 inch thick strip lengthwise.Moderately season the chicken strips with salt, crushed black pepper and lime juice and keep refrigerated for 30 minutes.In a separate bowl combine garlic powder, all-purpose flour, corn starch, parsley powder, cayenne pepper powder and paprika powder. Whisk until the mixture is thoroughly blended.In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and add the pre-seasoned chicken pieces and turn to coat well.Lift a piece of chicken and shake off excess egg and place in the flour mixture, turn and roll to coat well.Place the battered chicken aside and repeat for the remaining chicken pieces also.Heat oil in a deep fat fryer or a heavy bottom pan. Carefully deep fry the chicken over medium heat, or 320 degrees Fahrenheit to be precise.Turn the chicken when almost half way cooked, deep fry for a total time of 15-18 minutes to cook the chicken properly and until golden brown in colour.Check the internal temperature of chicken to be more than 165 degree Fahrenheit to confirm that it is cooked properly. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes to allow excess oil to drain out, serve hot.* Chef Tarun Kapoor, Culinary Mastermind, USA. He may be contacted at tarunkapoor83@gmail.com