Kokova Magazine

Gary Rhodes unlocks 40 year old family recipe for Father’s Day.

Gary Rhodes may well be upstaged this Father’s Day (Sunday 19 June) when he will join his stepfather John in front of an audience for the first time at the Taste of London restaurant festival, to create a dish that has become legendary in the Rhodes family.

The ingredients of 'Grandpa’s Fried Chicken' has remained a closely guarded secret for over 40 years, with Rhodes' own sons said to prefer it to many of the Michelin starred dishes created by the man himself.

John, who's originally from Jamaica, has been in Gary's life for over 40 years, encouraging and supporting from the sidelines. With the spotlight now on him, he's ready to share his winning recipe with Gary and those with a taste for the Caribbean.

I suppose I gave Gary his first taste of what spicy food is all about, but it's fair to say he may have the edge on me when it comes to culinary skills!

That said, Grandpa's Fried Chicken, has never failed to win over the family so I'm just hoping it's a success with the super foodies at Taste of London.

laughs John.

Gary, who is a favourite at the restaurant festival is looking forward to sharing the stage.

This has been a long time coming. The dish is an institution in our family and I can’t wait to stand side by side with John this Father's Day and serve up this sensational dish.

The Father’s Day session with Gary and John will take place at 1:30pm at the Taste of Jamaica Theatre on Sunday 19 June. For more details visit www.tastefestivals.com/london

Grandpa's Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 8 chicken breasts, skinned and halved (16 pieces in total)
• 14 chicken thighs, skinned

Marinade:

• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• 100g (4oz) fresh ginger, coarsely grated
• 6 tomatoes, roughly chopped (including seeds)
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Generous sprig or two of fresh thyme
• 1 heaped tsp of dried mixed herbs
• 1 level tsp dried rosemary
• 1 heaped tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 1 heaped tsp salt
• Generous twist of black pepper
• 2 x ½ sticks of cinnamon
• *Flour for dusting the chicken

For every 225g (8oz) of plain flour, add ½ teaspoon of cayenne, ½ teaspoon of paprika and ½ teaspoon of dried ginger

Procedure

• Simply mix all of the marinade ingredients together before adding the chicken.
• Leave to marinade for a minimum 24-48 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Remove marinade from chicken pieces and discard.
• Flour (see note above *), egg and crumb each of the chicken pieces, keeping the breasts separate from the thighs.
• Deep fry the thighs to a golden brown before finishing through the oven until tender.
• The breasts can be fried over a medium heat until golden and tender, finishing through the oven for a few minutes, if needed.

Taste of London will return to Regent’s Park from 16 to 19 June 2011.

For more information visit www.tastefestivals.com/london