Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from The Dooky Chase Cookbook by Leah Chase and are part of our story on Mardi Gras. Chase also shared some helpful tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.
I remember going to Mardi Gras parades and seeing fried chicken being sold on the street. There really wasn't any Mardi Gras in Madisonville — everybody left for New Orleans in hay trucks. Sometimes I could go, but usually my father wouldn't let us miss school.
We would go to see the Zulu parade, which was on Claiborne Avenue from Canal Street to St. Bernard Avenue. Claiborne was lined with beautiful oaks then. Some of the people held open houses on Claiborne, for their friends. The street was full of booths, with blacks selling fried chicken, fried fish, and red beans. My favorite thing about Mardi Gras was that we could eat in the street. My father never even let us eat candy outside normally.
I also thought it was so fun to dress in costume. But a lot of Creole ladies used the occasion to bring out their first spring suit. They would wear violet corsages, and walk with canes with a celluloid feathered doll on top. I thought it was a shame to get all fancy on Mardi Gras, instead of playing like the other maskers.
The Zulu parade mocked the white parades. The "African King" would wear a huge crystal doorknob as a ring. They were very funny. They wandered all over, passing households that paid them to go that way. Now Mardi Gras is so big that organized routes need to be followed. That's good to impose some kind of order where so many people are involved.
One group put on a Mardi Gras Breakfast Dance that was very fancy. The invited guests — usually teachers and professionals — would go in hats and gloves. I got invited eventually and wasn't so impressed. I was just happy to be watching the parade, finally able to eat some fried chicken in the street.
· Pet is a brand of evaporated milk commonly found in southern Louisiana. If you can't find Pet, any brand of evaporated milk will do — "it works better and it just tastes better," Chase says. If you do not have or cannot find evaporated milk, substitute half and half. Regular milk, Chase says, is too light and thin, and it will not yield the same perfect crust. · Chase's secret to perfect fried chicken is to make sure it is "perfectly dry before it hits the fryer. If there are any wet spots," she says, "your crust won't stick." After dipping the chicken in the egg wash and dusting it in flour (making sure to knock off any clumps or excess), let the chicken sit for about 10 minutes before putting it in the oil to fry. · Magnalite is a brand of heavy cast-steel cookware. Any other such brand of cast iron or steel cookware can be used instead.
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