Fried chicken does not have a single inventor; it is a dish with a long, multicultural history that evolved over centuries across various regions.
- The earliest known written recipe for fried chicken was published in 1747 by English cook Hannah Glasse, but frying chicken as a cooking technique dates back thousands of years and has roots in China, the Middle East, and West Africa
- In the United States, Southern fried chicken originated from a combination of Scottish and West African culinary traditions. Scottish immigrants brought a method of frying chicken in fat without seasoning, while West African cooks contributed seasoning techniques and spices. Enslaved Africans in the American South refined and popularized the dish, making it a staple of Southern cuisine
- The first widely accepted American printed recipe appeared in 1824 in Mary Randolph's "The Virginia House-Wife," which set a standard for Southern fried chicken
- The commercialization of fried chicken as a fast-food item is often credited to Colonel Harland Sanders, who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in the 1930s, but he did not invent the dish itself
In summary, fried chicken is a culinary fusion with no single inventor, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange primarily involving Scottish frying techniques and West African seasoning traditions, and later popularized in the American South by African American cooks
