The China Press on Fried chicken
Street Venders Selling Fried Chicken, Courtesy of Library of Congress
Yesterday the US Labor Department published the most recent unemployment numbers. The uptick in people out of work reminds me of the Great Depression and inspires me to share stories from that period in US history. There are allot of interesting one including this one published in a New York-based paper called The China Press about fried chicken in the fall of 1936. Do share what your know about this paper’s history with me on Instagram @fdopie because I am clueless.
There's much plain and fancy raving done about good old Southern chicken dishes. People who can't locate Baltimore relation to Chesapeake Bay Grove dreamy eyed and poetic and describe Maryland fried chicken. Northerners to whom "mammy" means no more than a song and a pair of white gloves, go into ecstasy over the joys of an authentic Dixie chicken shortcake. A great dear of lore [about] Southern cookery has long since drifted over the Mason-Dixon line. But it still seems likely that there's news yet to be spread when it comes to the creation of the superb chicken dishes. At least so our mailbag would indicate.
The China Press, September 11, 1936
Virginia Fried Chicken (with fried mush and cream gravy)
Ingredients
2 frying chickens
1 cup white cornmeal
1 egg yolk
3 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cut thin cream
Salt, flour
1 tablespoon butter
Lard
Directions
Disjoint and wash the chickens. Bring the water and salt to a full boil, and then sift in the cornmeal slowly to prevent lumping. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat. Then cool and add the egg yolk. Dredge the chicken with flour and salt, and then brown in hot lard (the fat to be in half inch deep in heavy frying pan). Brown each piece slowly, then drain on absorbent paper and set aside in hot place. Into the same frying pan drop spoonsful of the mush to form thin round cakes. Brown on each side and arrange in a border around the chicken. Add the butter to the same frying pan, blend with 1 tablespoon flour, and then add the cream. Stir until slightly thickened, season with salt and pepper, and serve with the fried chicken and mush.
The China Press, September 11, 1936
