Why grocery store fried chicken beats rotisserie chicken any day of the week
Years ago, I went tubing along the Tchefuncte River in Louisiana with my best friend, Gordon, his brother, Emory, and their father, John. Before we left on our adventure, Gordon's stepmother, Rose, handed us a basket of fried chicken to take along for our ride. Later, perched on a rock along the river, I took a bite of that chicken and couldn't get over how good it tasted. When I asked Rose that night what the secret was, she laughed. “Oh, I got it at Publix, Keith.”
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And so began my love of grocery store fried chicken. The best by far is from Publix, but other versions are just fine. The other day, famished as I drove through Miami Township, I stopped at Sullivan's Family Foods, in North Bend, and purchased two fried breasts and two thighs with a side of broccoli salad. I ate half of my meal in the car and took the rest home with me.
Later that night, I reached into the fridge and devoured a leftover thigh cold while standing at the kitchen sink. Odd, you say? Well to me, cold fried chicken is just as good if not better than the hot stuff. The meat is less greasy and more dense, the breading not as soggy, but just as tasty. (My former co-worker, Kenji Lopez-Alt, once described the breading as tasting more like stuffing when it's cold, which is not a bad thing at all.)
The next day, I shredded the last chicken breast and pressed it between two slices of squishy bread with iceberg lettuce, mayonnaise and lots of pickles for lunch. I know a lot of people feel like they can get just as much mileage out of those de rigueur rotisserie chickens everyone loves these days, but I promise you this: Whether it's for a tubing trip, a picnic or a mindless sandwich enjoyed over a kitchen sink, cold grocery store fried chicken beats cold rotisserie chicken any day of the week.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why grocery store fried chicken is better than rotisserie chicken
