Barberton chicken facts for kids
Barberton Chicken, also called Serbian Fried Chicken, is a unique style of fried chicken. It comes from the city of Barberton in Ohio. This special chicken is served in many restaurants there. Most of these restaurants are owned by Serbian-American families. Barberton chicken has made the town famous. Some people even call Barberton the "Chicken Capital of the World"!
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How Barberton Chicken Started
Barberton chicken began with a couple named Milchael and Smilka Topalsky. They were immigrants from Serbia who came to America in the early 1900s. During the Great Depression, they faced hard times. They had to sell their family farm because of debt.
In 1933, they opened a restaurant called Belgrade Gardens. There, they sold their special fried chicken. They also served a vinegar-based cole slaw. Another side dish was rice and tomato sauce with hot peppers. This was often called "hot sauce" or "hot rice." Freshly cut french fries were also part of the meal. People say these dishes were just like what the Topalskys knew in Serbia.
More Restaurants Join In
Soon, other restaurants started copying this unique style. Helen DeVore, who used to work at Belgrade Gardens, opened Hopocan Gardens in 1946. The Pavkov family started White House Chicken Dinners in 1950. They owned it until the late 1980s. Then, the DeVore family bought it.
The Milich family, also Serbian-American, opened Milich's Village Inn in 1955. In 2014, the Milich family announced they would close their restaurant. But a month later, it reopened under new owners. It was renamed Village Inn Chicken. They still serve the same famous fried chicken.
Today, these four chicken restaurants are very busy. They serve over seven and a half tons of chicken every week! This chicken is so popular that it is often sent all over the United States. Many people who used to live in Ohio order it. White House Chicken has even opened new locations in northeastern Ohio. These new places are more like fast food restaurants.
What Makes Barberton Chicken Special?
The restaurants that make Barberton chicken follow strict rules. These rules make the chicken unique.
- Always Fresh: Real Barberton chicken is always fresh. It is never frozen.
- No Seasoning: The chicken itself and its coating are not seasoned. This means no extra spices are added.
- Fried in Lard: The birds are fried in lard. This gives them a special taste and crispy texture.
- Unique Cuts: The chicken is cut into many pieces. This includes breasts, thighs, legs, wings, and backs. This way of cutting started during the Great Depression. It helped make sure no part of the chicken was wasted. The back pieces have little meat. They are sometimes called "chicken ribs" because they look a bit like beef or pork ribs.
