Day 760: The Chair, Part 19 - The Chicken Hierarchy

Whether we like it or not… or even recognize it… there is a hierarchy to everything in life.  And most of the time this hierarchy is self created based on an individual’s personal taste… or more importantly, this personal taste can be shaped by some sort of event or shared experience.

Like food... there are foods you like, there are foods you love, there are foods you don’t love, food you down right hate, and there are foods you don’t mind eating if there is nothing else available.  

For me, I was never a big fan of chicken.  I found it dry, rubbery, and completely devoid of flavor.  I didn’t hate it… I would eat it… but I wouldn’t go out of my way to have it… I would never order chicken at a restaurant.

And then the ‘Event’ happened: A young hot-shot oral surgeon yanked out all four of my impacted wisdom teeth… along with a sizable portion of my jaw bone.  The guy completely messed me up.  What should have been a two and a half day recovery took two and a half months… and more most of that time I could only choke down liquids… chewing hurt way too much.

However, for some reason, the solid food item I craved the most was chicken… but not just any kind of chicken.  I wanted to deep fry a whole chicken.  Which was a strange notion at the time… because I’d never eaten a deep fried chicken.  The only chicken I had ever eaten in my life had been over cooked (dry) in a microwave (rubbery) without the use of salt or other spices (completely devoid of flavor)… yet for some reason, I really wanted a whole deep fried chicken.

Where did it come from?

Well, one of my good theatre buddies, Kevin Robertson (Who just co-starred with Cameron Diaz in a movie called “The Box”) used to tell me these great stories about his family on the holidays.  He’s from a small South Carolina town called Union, and every Thanksgiving, in their back yard, his dad would firer-up their Jacuzzi sized deep fat fryer and deep fry their turkey.  But, it wasn’t just a family affair… their neighbors would come over too… and for the price of a case of beer and good company, they could drop their turkey in as well.

For some reason, I really like this story… and the idea of deep frying a Turkey sounded interesting to me.  So while I healed, keeping myself subdued with pain killers I dreamt of my very own deep fried chicken.

When I had a bit more strength, I ventured out and I bought the largest fry daddy I could find: “The Fry Granddaddy”… and I put on the counter of my kitchen.  And when the time came… when I could stomach the idea of chewing… I dropped a whole chicken into my Fry Granddaddy.  And I ate the whole chicken in one sitting.

What?  Don’t look at me that way… I hadn’t eaten solid food for almost two months!

Now a days, chicken is my favorite food… although I’m no longer deep frying them… I’m a sucker for a good roasted chicken… or a smoked chicken on the grill.  That’s just heaven.

Heaven.