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There’s nothing quite like fried chicken for soul-soothing indulgence, and restaurants in America just seem to get it right every time. Food reporter Sydney Evans headed to New York, where her friends introduced her to Charles Pan-Fried Chicken—an unmissable soul food gem in Harlem with out-of-this-world fried chicken. And now this culinary cornerstone is coming to London.
Fried chicken is pure comfort food, and Chef Charles Gabriel has made it the heart of his beloved eatery. Born into a whopping brood of 19 in North Carolina in 1947, Charles honed his skills in comfort food, guided by his mother’s cardinal rule: shun the deep fryer, stick to pan frying.
Since whipping up meals for his kin labouring in the cotton fields at the ripe age of eight, Charles took off to New York at 17 to refine his craft as a chef. Escalating from his flat to a food truck, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken finally put down roots in 1990, earning Charles the title “The Fried Chicken King of Harlem” by none other than The New Yorker.
London’s chicken shop scene is bustling, yet it’s bereft of the zest and homely charm one finds in Charles’ hearty servings of crispy golden poultry, reports My London. Sydney shared: “In fact, I rarely eat fried chicken in London because it’s hard to find anything that comes close to the Harlem institution.
“A box of fried chicken in London might satisfy cravings for a few minutes, but it’s nothing on the kind of meal you get with a trip to Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, complete with baked mac & cheese, collard greens, black-eyed peas and sweet cornbread.”
Fried chicken has been adopted by numerous cultures worldwide, and some historians even suggest that Scottish settlers introduced it to the Southern United States in the 1700s. However, many concur that the rendition popularised by African-American communities in the South is the most emblematic.
These communities have woven an entire culture around this dish, often serving it post-church services, with the choicest parts of the chicken, known as preacher parts, reserved for visiting pastors.
Sydney added: “So it was no surprise that many devout followers turned up to Charles’ pop-up truck on London’s South Bank on a sunny evening last week, but the experience wasn’t quite the same in my native city as it is in New York.
“The meal certainly didn’t disappoint, and the crispy fried chicken was just as tender as I remembered. However, I was sad to see that the set menu didn’t include an option for black-eyed peas, another Southern staple that I love.”
She continued: “But Charles’ food is the kind that’s made to be eaten and shared around a large table with family and friends. Ordering boxes brimming with chicken and cornbread, setting this around the table and digging in is what makes it so comforting.
“So while it didn’t disappoint, and tucking in on a bench with the London Eye in the distance was certainly pleasant, I’m looking forward to returning to the Harlem institution in its native New York City, and taking it back to a table nearby where there’s hardly any place for plates once the boxes have been set down.”
