The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-12-13
Fried Chicken and Corn POne.

NCW VI N IL WIN VI oO dSO duO a. ~
porter for The Tribune had a talk
with him at the Hotel Imperial. Mr..
Carlton had evidently first enjoyed a
good square meal, for he talked after
this fashion: Gail parts Of the coun-
try have their speciality in the way Of
cooking, l suppose. Everyone in
New England, believe, breakfasts
on Sunday on pork and beans and cod
fish balls as regularly as the day comes
around. In Philadelphia the Sunday
breakfast consists of scrambled eggs
and scallops, but in the South, when
we are in doubt, we invariably fall
back on fried chicken and corn pone.
It may do for a New York banker to
import cook at s1O,0 year, and
undoubtedly such chief is worth the
money from some points of view, par
ticularly the social, but would wager
considerbly that if one Of those cooks
and an old colored nanny were pit
ted against each other to fry chicken
and cook corn poneit would inevitably
result in the chiefs inglorious defeat.
1t is heaven born art with our old
colored mammies. They can all doit,
and do it in manner to bring tears
Of gladness to the heart of hungry
man. Why, only the other night,
when we came through Gordonsville,
Va, in the early morning hours, l was
restless and had got up to smoke as
we drew up at the junction. went
to the platform for breath of air,
and discovered half dozen old color
ed crones strung along the side OF the
train. Each had a tray, upon which
were exposed many articles Of food
for sale, but the principal was fried
chicken. You ought to have tried it.
It was so tender it fairly melted in
your mouth, while the crispy Drowned
outside impaired delicious tang to
the taste. 1 have dined 70 many res
taurants and with many people, and
and at some dinners that still
live in my memory on account of their
gastronomic excellence, but the mem
ory of the best dish Of the best cook
which I ever partook of will now have
to give up the place Of honor to a piece
of fried chicken served on tray by a
black nanny at the little functional
station in Virginia.
Everybody who has travelled through
Virginia on the Chesapeake and Ohio
knows about Gordonsville and its fried
chicken. Mr.. Carlton has not done
the situation justice. At nearly all
Virginia depots there are venders OF
chicken: sandwiches, coffee, milk,
fruit, ct cetera, but the Gordonsvllle
fried chicken is not only the best but
it has another popularity. The trav-
eler wants first to get off the train at
this junction where the road divides,
one branch going to Richmond, the
other to Washington. AS soon as he
steps on the long wooden platform the
mammies will approach with their
trays. He wants to buy cup Of
coffee, for it is good coffee, roll, for
the rolls are also good, and then let
him take his choice Of a piece of
chicken, for one part of the chicken,
as every lover of the fowl knows, DIFF
fereth from another part in glory.
But his choice at Gordonsville will
be limited. He will find that none
Of the trays have anything but
"thighs' and "drumsticks" or first
and second joints, as some call them.
How is this? Are the Gordonsville
chickens all legs? 1t would seem so,
but not exactly. It happens in this
way.
The best part of fried chicken is the
leg either the thigh or lower portion.
Anyone knows that, and the Gordons-
vile mammies long ago noticed that
every customer wanted either the
first or second joint, SO that at the
end Of the day IS work, their trays con-
tanned the other less delicious por-
tions. Oh, for a breed of chickens
that would be all legs! But if the
pesky fowls won't grow that way, why
not make them that way after they
are killed and cleaned? Happy
thought The mammies have now
become expert at the art, and when
the traveller buys piece of chicken
at Gordonsvile from the depot ven
ders, he always gets leg. The meat
is so skilfully arranged upon a bone
that it is not until the best part of it
has been eaten that the fraud is dis
covered, and by that time the Joy of
the eater is SO great over the fnefcast