1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (156 page)

Whether in Texas or New Mexico, proper sopaipillas are based on bread dough that is rolled extra-thin and cut into small squares before being fried in boiling lard. It instantly balloons in the hot fat, creating an irresistibly light and airy result, a sort of popover that is crunchy on the outside and very tenderly yeasty within.

The treats are served as both desserts and breads, in the small baskets found on the tables of nearly every restaurant that features New Mexico’s colorful cuisine. Some places now offer savory versions in which the sopaipillas are stuffed with delectably spiced fillings such as beef, pork, chicken, or refried beans. Diners are advised to try to resist overdoing it, lest they forfeit the rest of their meal.

Where:
In Albuquerque
, Casa de Benevidez, tel 505-898-3311,
casadebenavidez.com
;
in Santa Fe
, Plaza Cafe, tel 505-982-1664,
thefamousplazacafe.com
;
in Chimayó, NM
, Rancho de Chimayó, tel 505-351-4444,
ranchodechimayo.com
.
Further information and recipes:
The Border Cookbook
by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (1995);
Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook
edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Mosley (2003);
cookstr.com
(search sopaipillas idone; sopaipillas jamison).
See also:
Indian Fry Bread
;
Bhel Puri
.

The most beloved triumph of the Southern kitchen, fried chicken engenders arguments almost every time two or more devotees meet. Everyone seems to have a favorite trick or turn, some going back to what their mothers used to make, others to a bygone shack or restaurant. Perhaps their discussions are merely lovers’ quarrels. What all agree on is that the meat should be dewily moist, succulently flavorful, with the quintessential sunny, rich chicken essence, and that it all be coated with a golden crunchy crust. For many, lots of salt and pepper are the only acceptable seasonings, while others demand the hot chile sting that distinguishes fried chicken around Nashville. And to most, pieces of fried chicken should be edible by hand, forks and knives obviating the sensuous pleasure of biting in and getting a big mouthful of crust and meat all at once.

Every expert knows just how chicken should be prepared, of course, starting with the freshest possible bird weighing no more than 2½ pounds. Not only will it be more tender than a larger bird, but it will also ensure the right proportion of crust to meat. Real purists might buy only dark meat in parts that have the most flavor and moisture; as they know,
the best cuts for frying are thighs, drumsticks, and the third joint of the wing, which is white meat but much like a mini drumstick.

Among such culinary debates, a prime question is to brine or not to brine, and if so, in what sort of liquid. Brining is supposed to ensure juiciness and a teasing saltiness, but can that be better realized with salted water or buttermilk? (Opt for the latter: The milk enzymes tend to tenderize the meat.) Anti-briners think this step makes crispness more difficult to achieve because the higher moisture in the meat might cause steaming through the crust during frying. (They are right.)

And how to develop that maximum crispness in the crust? By dipping pieces into an egg-and-flour batter; or taking a triple run through flour, then beaten eggs, and finally, bread crumbs; or the best and favorite method, a simple tossing in seasoned flour.

How to fry, and in what vehicle? Most traditional Southern home cooks wisely opt for a deep, black iron skillet, and though all might acknowledge that lard is the frying vehicle that adds the most flavor and crispness, more now are combining it with vegetable oils or using the oils alone for health reasons. (Midway between the two are those using solid vegetable shortening, namely Crisco, that produces lard’s crispness while being at least a little easier on arteries; but if fried chicken is only a sometime pleasure, why compromise?)

Now that the chicken is hot, crisp, and ready, what foods enhance it most? Biscuits, for sure (see
listing
), buttered and perhaps dripping honey, and slightly vinegary Southern potato salad (see
listing
), which is a better choice than French fries. In truly old-style fried-chicken outposts, you should also be able to have an appetizer of Southern fried-chicken gizzards, hearts, and livers, as on the menu at Stroud’s in Kansas City. But there, as elsewhere, if cream gravy is offered, order it on the side, if at all. It is hard to understand why, having spent so much effort on achieving crispness, one would douse the chicken with a thick sauce that turns the crust to mush.

If you think Americans are inexplicably quirky about this gastronomic treat, take heart. Austrians can carry on just about as much as to the right way to turn out their
Wiener Backhendl
(see
listing
), and Koreans debate the correct amounts of ginger, garlic, soy, and vinegar that make up the marinade for their version of fried chicken (see
listing
).

Where:
In Kansas City, MO, and Fairway, KS
, Stroud’s,
stroudsrestaurant.com
;
in Houston
, Barbecue Inn, tel 713-695-8112,
thebarbecueinn.com
;
in Charleston, SC
, Hominy Grill, tel 843-937-0930,
hominygrill.com
;
in Nashville
, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, tel 615-226-9442; Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, tel 615-678-4794,
hattieb.com
;
in New Orleans
, Willie Mae’s Scotch House, tel 504-822-9503;
in New York
, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, tel 212-228-0404,
blueribbonfriedchicken.com
; Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen, tel 212-337-0404,
blueribbonrestaurants.com
; Bar and Library at NoMad, tel 347-472-5660,
thenomadhotel.com
; Charles’ Country Pan Fried Chicken, tel 212-281-1800;
in Brooklyn
, Peaches HotHouse, tel 718-483-9111,
bcrestaurantgroup.com/hothouse
;
in Chicago
, Table Fifty-Two, tel 312-573-4000,
tablefifty-two.com
;
in San Francisco
, Frisco Fried, tel 415-822-1517,
friscofried.biz
;
in Yountville, CA
, Ad Hoc, tel 707-944-2487,
adhocrestaurant.com
;
in Ottawa, Canada
, Union 613, tel 613-231-1010,
union613.ca
;
in Montreal
, Dinette Triple Crown, tel 514-272-2617. For more restaurants serving good fried chicken,
thedailymeal.com
(search great american fried chicken roadmap).
Further information and recipes:
Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking
by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart (2012);
New American Table
by Marcus Samuelsson (2009);
The Taste of Country Cooking
by Edna Lewis (1976);
Gene Hovis’s Uptown Down Home Cookbook
by Gene Hovis with Sylvia Rosenthal (1993);
Fried & True
by Lee Brian Schrager and Adeena Sussman (2014);
vogue.com
(click Videos, then search david chang’s fried chicken with caviar);
saveur.com
(search southern fried chicken dinner; extra-crispy fried chicken);
cookingchanneltv.com
(search coca-cola brined fried chicken).

A staple for any summertime picnic or party.

The French like their potato salad dressed in a light, tarragon-scented vinaigrette and served cold. Germans prefer theirs warm, glossed with a dressing of vinegar, mustard, and the bacon that adds some of its luxuriously golden grease. American versions, always served cold, are generally coated with a silken veil of mayonnaise. But in the South, the church supper classic harkens to the German tradition. Made with cubed boiled potatoes, chopped hard-cooked eggs, crunchy celery, spicy mustard, a sprinkling of sweet pickle relish, and plenty of salt, it is simultaneously sweet and sour. Distinctively yellow, tart, and bracing, it is the ideal foil for lusty fried chicken and meaty country ham. And, these days, it may come dressed up with untraditional garnishes such as Jerusalem artichoke relish, pimiento peppers, olives, and sometimes even mayonnaise.

Deliciously correct Southern-style potato salad demands waxy potatoes with a low starch content that won’t break down as they boil, such as Yukon Golds, Kennebecs, fingerlings, Red Bliss, or other red-skinned potatoes. Starting the unpeeled potatoes in cold water and bringing them up to a boil will ensure that the inside cooks at the same time as the outside, preventing the potato from disintegrating. And letting the cooked potatoes cool before peeling and cutting them into cubes or slices provides further insurance against mealiness.

Prepared this way, potato salad will convert even those who scoff at the inclusion of sweet-sour, improbably green pickle relish.

Where:
In Savannah, GA
, Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room, tel 912-232-5997,
mrswilkes.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse Cookbook
by Sema Wilkes (2001);
Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking
by Bill Neal (1989);
cookstr.com
(search tangy buttermilk potato salad);
epicurious.com
(search potato salad dooky chase).

In contrast to the hard-shelled
Merceneria mercenaria
, the tiny, soft-shelled
Mya arenaria
clams are never eaten raw. With their thin and fragile, salt-white shells and protruding black-tipped necks, they are almost strictly an East Coast treat,
popularly known as steamers. Because they never close tightly shut, the bivalves are considered by purists not to be true clams, a quibble of little import to steamer addicts.

Carefully purged of sand, the tiny clams are steamed briefly, with only a film of water as a starter at the bottom of the pot to get the process going. Having popped wide open after eight to ten minutes, they are served piping hot in big individual bowls. Proper accompaniments are generous pools of sweet and sunny melted butter and maybe—just maybe—a wedge of lemon. The real prize is the cupful of the steaming broth ladled out with each portion. All of the dish’s seductive magic lies in that broth, the distillation of a languid North Atlantic summer in a single cup. Practically speaking, the broth is used for dipping cooked clams if they are sandy, and is then allowed to settle so it can be sipped without interference from grit.

Where:
In New York
, The Clam, tel 212-242-7420,
theclamnyc.com
;
in Boston and environs
, Jasper White’s Summer Shack,
summershackrestaurant.com
;
in Wellfleet, MA
, Mac’s Seafood, tel 800-214-0477,
macsseafood.com
;
in Toronto
, Oyster Boy, tel 416-534-3432,
oysterboy.ca
.
Further information and recipes:
Jasper White’s Cooking from New England
by Jasper White (1998);
The New England Clam Shack Cookbook
by Brooke Dojny (2008).
See also:
Fried Clam Roll
;
North Atlantic Clams on the Half-Shell
.