“Nobody doesn’t like fried chicken,” said Lee Schrager, organizer of Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, in the Wall Street Journal.
Good grammar aside, Schrager is probably right. Even the people who say they don’t like fried chicken really do like fried chicken; they just don’t like to admit it.
A recent article in the WSJ asks “Could fried chicken, in its many forms…be the next big trend in food?” Well, reporter Charles Passy says that based on the menu at the Food Network New York City Food & Wine Festival held last weekend, the answer is a resounding YES.
At one of the Festival's “themed” events, called "Shake & Bake," patrons who paid the all-inclusive $145 admission fee, chowed down on the likes of Fried Chicken Thigh Burger; traditional southern-style Buttermilk Fried Chicken; Matzo Meal-Crusted Drumsticks; two versions of Chicken in a Waffle Cone; Korean Fried Chicken Tacos; and Backhendl with Potato-Arugula Salad (pictured here) by Blaue Gans' chef Kurt Gutenbrunner. (Photo by Arthur Bovino for The Daily Meal.)
All this talk about crispy chicks got me thinking and drooling over my own Remembrances of Fried Chickens Past.
One of the best-ever was a serendipitous encounter this summer with the perfect Backhendl, German for fried chicken, (pictured below): crisp, non-greasy, smartly seasoned, with the ideal one-two punch of dark golden crust and tender juicy meat. Fresh lemon and parsley adorned it, and a glistening, vinegar-based potato salad was on the side.
My husband and I made this bird’s
acquaintance at Kirchenwirt, a small, family-run cafe in the middle of no-where,
on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. The
Kirchenwirt gasthof gets plenty of
visitors despite its out-of-the-way location because it sits across the street
from the Basilika Klein-Mariazell, a picturesque church and cloister
founded in 1134. Though it has weathered some tough times, the elegant cluster of
buildings is today both a living religious community and an architectural work
of art.
It is also smack dab in the middle of a
massive network of inviting hiking trails. Our Austrian friends suggested the day’s
excursion and guided us on an enchanting three-hour hike that took us through
gladed forests, across grassy meadows, up and down rolling hills, and through
tiny hamlets such as Altenmarkt an der Triesting. It was there we passed a lovely old home with
this sign on the gate. The sign says: “I am a Rottweiler. Beyond here (this gate)
Benjamin von Husarentempel will bite you.”
The hike started and ended at the Basilica Klein-Mariazell, so Kirchenwirt was a natural place for lunch. We sat on the terrace, in warm sunshine, with cold draft beers, and gave thanks for good friends, gorgeous landscapes, a glorious hike --- and great fried chicken.
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