Photograph by Catherine Grace
Fried chicken has more history packed into a drumstick than almost any other soul food staple. It sits at a crossroads of African culinary tradition, Southern cooking, slavery, entrepreneurship, and migration. The repeated origin story of this popular soul food dish pairs Scottish immigrants’ technique of frying chicken in fat with West African cooks’ expertise in frying and seasoning food. But here’s the messier truth: Enslaved African and African American cooks developed and passed down the techniques that turned frying chicken into the dish we now recognize. Chicken carried economic weight, as enslaved people were sometimes permitted to raise and sell poultry—one of the few paths to any independent income under slavery.
After emancipation, Black women built the skill into a business. Following the Civil War, they sold fried chicken, biscuits, and pies to travelers at railroad stops, handing plates through open windows to hungry passengers. The plates of food were portable, precooked, and could be eaten with your hands, perfectly suited for a trip. This resourcefulness was solidified during Jim Crow and the Great Migration, when Black families packing for the road couldn’t count on being served at restaurants along the way; fried chicken became the reliable meal to bring. The same dish that helped Black folks sustain a living has also been twisted into an unfortunate racial stereotype, and the caricature persists as an insult today. But its deeper legacy is one of ingenuity and free enterprise. Around Cincinnati, get a taste of hand-breaded, crispy fried chicken at Soul Secrets or a golden-fried wing dinner at Emma’s All In One Occasions.
- Soul Secrets, 1434 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 721-7685
- Emma’s All In One Occasions, 3122 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 481-2200
Photograph by Catherine Grace
