May 24, 2001 12:04 AM
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Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken is known and loved in 82 countries and it all began in 1952 when a 65 years old gentleman used his Social Security cheque of just $105 to start the KFC franchising business that we know today. In 1986 PepsiCo inc bought the KFC franchise for a reported $840m although the Colonel only got $2m for his business in 1964.
In actual fact it really all began before then as the early death of his father left Harland Sanders as a six years old head cook and bottle washer in the Sanders household, where by the age of seven he had mastered many local dishes. Between then and his fortieth birthday Harland worked in at least a dozen different jobs and finally ran a service station in Corbin, Kentucky. It was here that he began to cater for the weary travellers by cooking them meals to be served on his own kitchen table in his own quarters. Such was the popularity of his fare that people would come to the service station just for the food and not fuel. So in the 1930’s Harland moved across the street to operate a roadside restaurant and motel in Corbin, Kentucky where he and the establishment became famous for the tasty chicken pieces that were served. It took him nine years to perfect the now famous secret recipe and for his trouble he became a Kentucky Colonel.
In Kentucky, statesmen of note were afforded the rank of Colonel as recognition of their services to the state and in 1935 Harland Sanders was awarded this honour to become Colonel Harland Sanders.
The building of an interstate highway in the 1950’s would by-pass the town and that spelled the end of his business. After auctioning it off and paying his bills Harland was left with a Social Security cheque of just $105.
But the Colonel, now in his mid sixties, knew that his recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken was a winner so for the next twelve years Colonel Sanders travelled the country by car to restaurants to cook chicken in his special way and set up over 600 franchises in the United States and Canada. And the rest as they say is history. In all those years he and his wife Claudia would mix the special recipe on the garage floor from the recipe that he carried in his head. Today that recipe is locked away in a safe in Louisville, Kentucky and only a handful of people know what that recipe is and they have signed a very strict confidentiality contract. The security would do justice to Fort Knox. However I can reveal that the secret recipe is made up from flour and eleven herbs and spices and the chicken is fried in a pressure cooker. Today two different companies produce the blend of herbs and spices although each only produces a different part of the blend to maintain the secrecy.
The control of the mixture is so perfect that wherever you go in the world where KFC is sold the end result is exactly the same, a very tasty piece of chicken. Many have tried to emulate it and all have failed, although some have got pretty close. Even the fries are second to none.
Sadly the Colonel is no longer with us but when you see a picture of the bespectacled, goatee bearded, white haired, rotund figure of the Colonel, you cannot help but put your trust in his culinary skills and know that his meal made just for you, will be perfect.
Out of all the dozen or so variations on chicken meals on the menu I prefer the Original Dinner of two pieces of chicken, a standard portion of fries accompanied by a tub of Cole Slaw which at £2.99 is only slightly dearer than a portion of fish, chips and peas. For families the bargain bucket would make all members of the family full and happy. But there is a down side. If you eat KFC on a regular basis, like weekly, you can get used to the taste and soon lose the uniqueness of it to familiarity. I prefer to treat myself about once a month to savour and enjoy those eleven herbs and spices that so uniquely make up the taste of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
For those who revel in such things here are a few facts and figures.
Taking into account that an American billion is one thousand million whereas an English billion is one million, million, some 6 billion (American) chicken pieces are sold worldwide each year. That is 736 million chickens. The USA consumes nearly as much KFC as the rest of the world put together.
Bon Apetite
