The era of chicken ’n chips
Londoners have an appetite for fried chicken. In fact, our city loves it so much that the swing of organic and ’healthy’ drumsticks has taken the capital by storm. Chicken Town, the latest of socially conscious fried chicken shops, opened its doors at the end of last year in Tottenham.
Whereas London’s local cuisine doesn’t have a distinct identity, the character comes from its diversity. Streets in the capital are rife with food culture from all over the world – most evidently, fried chicken. The sight of fried chicken shops one after another is commonplace especially in East London, which features several joints within short distances.
Although fried chicken extends its history to the Middle Ages – even the Scots fried their chicken before the Englishmen realised what they were missing out on – the roots of this deliciousness as we know it likely spread from the West African and Caribbean communities in the rural American South. Similarly to soul food, fried chicken is another cultural heritage brought about by foreign immigrants – and another reason why we should celebrate our multicultural capital.
