Why grocery store fried chicken is better than rotisserie chicken

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 for 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 is 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.)