The quintessential Southern dish is fried chicken. And there are as many recipes for it as there are Southern cooks who have made it over generations.

Now a classic American dish, it is thought to have developed in the latter half of the 18th century from the traditional fricassee that was served in homes throughout the South. Yet somewhere in its evolution, the chicken went from being stewed in liquid to deep fried in heavy doses of oil, thus taking on a crispier, more flavorful essence.

Janyce Gentry of Talmadge is among those Southern-born experts of fried chicken who grew up with the meal and still swears by her family’s recipe.

“My mother was from Alabama and she cooked fried chicken twice a week,” Gentry says. “Even after we moved to San Diego when I was 5 years old, she never stopped making it. And I can remember my Uncle Jack saying, ‘I don’t know why anyone would do anything else with chicken.’”

Gentry’s recipe, which she today enjoys with her partner, Brendetta, and their two daughters on special occasions, ranks among the most requested dishes within her circle of friends. She says the fanfare is due to some family cooking techniques that are rare to other fried chicken recipes.

“Not many people who make fried chicken take off the skin. We always did it as an attempt to cut the fat content because we ate so much of it,” she quips. “My mother then took it a step further by removing the bones. Nowadays, you can buy it like that.”

Her biggest family secret, however, lies in the initial preparation of the meat, which gets soaked in salt water. “My mother used to leave it in the water overnight, but I’ve taken the sodium level down a little by soaking the pieces for only an hour.”

Afterward, the chicken is dipped in a buttermilk-egg mixture, and then dredged in self-rising flour before getting plunked into a skillet or electric frying pan filled with about four inches of vegetable oil. “Never use a lid when cooking it,” she emphasizes. “If you do, it won’t come out crispy.”

Extra vigilance is taken in removing excess grease from the cooked chicken with a grocery bag topped with paper towels. “I let the pieces sit on the paper for a few minutes before serving.”

The dinner wouldn’t be complete, however, without green beans, butter-laced mashed potatoes, corn bread and decadent gravy made with the oil used for frying the chicken.

“It’s the epitome of comfort food for me. I still have aunts and uncles in Alabama who eat the meal twice a week,” Gentry says. “Bypass surgeries be damned, they still keep making it.”

The gravy, she stresses, is a mandatory component to the dish. “I make it exactly like my mom did.”

After frying approximately three pounds of chicken and removing it from the pan, she reaches again for the self-rising flour and covers the top of the grease with it. The pan is kept over medium-high heat as she whisks continually until thickened. Water is added for consistency, and salt and pepper for taste. “The gravy should come out thick, with a basic light brown color.”

For the canned green beans, she’s made some concessions. Her mother used to sauté the onions first in bacon fat, before tossing in the beans along with a bouillon cube. “The salt content went through the roof, but they were the best tasting beans I have ever eaten,” Gentry says.

Instead, Gentry buys no-salt beans and cooks them with the onions in olive oil over low heat for about two hours.

As with so many cherished recipes kept alive in families over generations, Gentry adds that nobody in her clan ever wrote down the fried chicken recipe. “My cousins, aunts and I all learned from watching the matriarchs in our family cook the dinner. And we all make the meal exactly the same way.”

Just recently, four of her cousins visited here from Alabama, although the frying pans were kept out of sight. “We vowed not to spend the entire visit in the kitchen. So we instead corked wine and ordered in – and ate no fried chicken.”

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into chunks)

Half-quart buttermilk

3 eggs

2-3 cups of self-rising flour

Vegetable oil (enough to fill large skillet 3 to 4 inches)

Salt and pepper to taste

Submerge cut chicken in a pot of salted water for one hour. Whisk together buttermilk and eggs and dip each piece into the mixture. Dredge the chicken through the self-rising flour and place evenly coated pieces in pre-heated oil, in a cast iron skillet or electric frying pan. Cook approximately 20 minutes on medium-high (until browned) while turning pieces periodically. Drain on paper towels.

Serves approximately 5 people.