I
must confess to being in amazement of the Chicago Tribune, which made a front
page story this weekend with full pages of content inside, out of the story
that was little more than an advertisement for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
For
the Tribune devoted significant space on the front page and inside the front
section to stories and sidebars implying they had cracked the code – so to
speak – as to how the chicken joint makes its original recipe chicken.
EVEN
THOUGH PERSONALLY, I have to wonder how few people really care to know.
Many
people I know who want fast food chicken either avoid Kentucky Fried (I refuse
to use the KFC acronym) or go out of their way to order the extra-crispy style.
Just
something about that original recipe style that, while it might once have been
a unique blend of ingredients to make for a flavorful batter now comes off as
just too greasy to eat.
So
if the Tribune really managed to “break” the story of what is in the batter
that makes for the outer skin, I wonder, really wonder, who cares. Will we next
get a story purporting to tell us what the “special sauce” is that goes on the
McDonald’s “Big Mac?”
I
JUST CAN’T envision many people feeling compelled to try cooking up a batch of
chicken at home. Because fried chicken really has become one of those dishes
that one either just orders out because it’s too difficult to get right at
home, or else they’ve given up up on the idea of fried food in general.
It
really is something we should eat only in moderation.
The
one thing that most amused me about the Tribune’s coverage this weekend of a
story that I envision newspaper officials probably thought was a major national
exclusive that would draw significant public attention to the Colonel’s
(McCormick, not Sanders) newspaper was that for all the space (nearly three
full broadsheet pages) devoted to the story, they can’t claim to have the
recipe right.
CORPORATE
TYPES WHO control the legacy that is the recipe of the original Harlan Sanders
would neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of what the Tribune claimed was the
original recipe – contained on a handwritten note the newspaper managed to gain
possession of.
In fact, we got to learn details of the extent to which corporate officials go to keep the recipe stored in a safe with so many security precautions that it is impossible for one lone person to get in and see the recipe for themselves!
Which
is funny, in light of the fact that we also learned that at the original
chicken shack that Sanders operated at his gas station along the highway in
Kentucky (while also feeding hungry motorists), the recipe used to be posted on
a signboard inside the store.
Meaning this so-called secret used to be as public as we can get. A shame nobody bothered to take a picture of the signboard, or think to write it down.
PERSONALLY,
I THINK the Tribune’s coverage of the revealing of the secret is little more
than free advertising for Kentucky Fried – even more pathetic than the level of
free media that the Donald Trump presidential campaign gets every time he says
something stupid!
For
as much space as the Chicago Tribune devoted to this story, I’d like to think
they got something serious in the way of compensation. Otherwise it was a waste
of space.
Particularly
since anybody in Chicago ought to know that Kentucky Fried is about the last
place to go for one in need of a fried poultry piece meal.
For
anybody with any sense in need of fried chicken ought to just make the journey
to 104th Street and Torrence Avenue in the South Deering
neighborhood. Hienie’s Chicken (particularly when served with the “hot” sauce)
is truly the best.
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