Fried chicken showdown
William Rice reports.
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| Mix masters |
| Let them eat art |
| Ice ages |
| Gender mender |
Chicago—The chickens cannot come home fast enough for Susan Goss these days. The reason? A well-executed collaboration between the chef and a food-oriented cultural organization has fueled a successful ongoing promotion at her West Town Tavern. The promotion, Fried Chicken Mondays, debuted in January, and, despite the availability of the full regular menu, the $16.95 chicken dinner now rules the roost each week. (On February 12, a record 47 chicken dinners were served in the 67 seat dining room.)
As for the collaboration, despite the violent portent of its title, the event, Chicago's first "Fried Chicken Throwdown" dinner was a sold-out love-in. Guests downed three different chicken preparations during a four course fund-raiser meal in support of the Documentary Film Initiative of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA).
"We didn't recruit celebrity judges," said Goss, chef/co-owner of the vintage tavern where the event was staged. "We had no ballots. No one was mean-spirited. People came to have fun." That's reassuring in a time when people line up to participate in "poetry slams" or perhaps dream of "sushi slaps."
"Throwdown is a playful term," commented featured speaker John T. Edge, a University of Mississippi culinary scholar who is director of the SFA. "It suggests a boastful but good-natured competition."
Edge said he didn't know who first introduced the throwdown into Alliance deliberations but stressed that cooking competitions and demonstrations were a valuable tool in establishing the culinary diversity of Southern cooking.
"Our aim is to tell the full story of foodways of the South. Fried chicken is not monotheistic. Neither are barbecue or biscuits. It highlights the distinctions when we can gather cooks or artisan food producers from various subregions and put one version of a revered food against another. If the dishes are seasoned with a little braggadocio, it only adds to the fun."
The evening event showcased Scotch House Fried Chicken from New Orleans, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack from Nashville, and Goss' "Family Heritage" recipe from the Florida panhandle via Indiana. (The dessert, lemon chess pie, was not in competition.) Garretson California wines included red and white blends named Cornbread Nation Cuvée.
At Scotch House (reopened April 1 after a $200,000 rehab effort administered by SFA), Willie Mae Seaton makes an egg batter with eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne, black pepper, and garlic and onion powders. The chicken pieces are floured, then coated with batter and deep fried in vegetable oil. At Prince's, André Prince Jeffries tends to her "chicken-o-holic," hot sauce–addicted regular customers. The Prince version is radically different from the other two and might be considered a distant cousin to that Yankee upstart Buffalo chicken wings. Prince's chicken pieces are soaked in buttermilk containing "a whole lot" of Tabasco hot pepper sauce. When ready to fry, they're dredged in flour heavily spiked with cayenne, and, when cooked, tossed with butter anointed with still more Tabasco. There are four levels of heat.
When apprised of Goss' decision to serve "fingers" of Prince's fried chicken atop a bed of Caesar salad, Edge blanched and blurted "no comment." Goss responded that she did certain things "in the interest of creating a coherent menu." Enough said, and her chicken spoke for itself.
The pieces—three per order—are soaked in buttermilk, dredged in spice rub–seasoned flour and cornmeal, deep fried, and then finished in a 500°F oven. She recommends serving the chicken with "something creamy like mashed potatoes, gravy, or creamed corn." Her Monday night menu offers garlic mashed potatoes, wild mushroom gravy, Swiss chard, and buttermilk biscuits re-created from her great-grandmother's recipe.
Edge, who among his many other attainments, is the author of Fried Chicken: An American Story, concluded an interview with this thought: "In the Alliance's seminars, publications, and other public forums, we're able to promote the concept that there's a future for the foodways of the past, and people are waking up to it." Interestingly, fried chicken, according to Douglas Brooks, president and CEO of Brinker International, "is the number one growth item today." Add to that, Thomas Keller, of all people, can say, "Amen," as he giddily notes the line out the door of his new Ad Hoc (Yountville, CA), awaiting their turn when the restaurant runs its fried chicken nights.
