National Fried Chicken Day

Who doesn't like a piece of chicken, battered and deep-fried in some hot oil until it's crispy on the outside but still nice and juicy on the inside? This method of frying chicken was perfected in the U.S. but not without a lot of influence from other countries — and even some controversies along the way.

The first recipe for fried chicken in the U.S. appeared in a book called "The Virginia Housewife, Or Methodical Cook" published in 1825. This was written by Mary Randolph, who ran a boarding house, and whose brother was married to Thomas Jefferson's daughter. In fact, Randolph's book is considered by many to be the first cookbook ever published in America, and the inclusion of a fried chicken recipe says something about the dish's place in the culinary landscape of the country. Her recipe would be familiar to cooks today and involves dredging a cut-up bird in flour, sprinkling it with some salt and deep-frying the pieces in lard.