For the Colonel, It Was Finger-Lickin’ Bad (1976)

If you want the real thing you have to go to the restaurant named after his wife:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Sanders_Dinner_House

Sanders in 1963 on What's my Line? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk4Eq8IcQMk

And a video on the history of Sanders' fight with KFC corporate, and what exactly is in the seasoning? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJYOgzFydc

My takeaway is that Sanders cared about serving quality fast food, and KFC corporate cared about reducing costs and doing brand necromancy. The upshot is you won't get KFC chicken at KFC, just a pale, cheap imitation of the original, meanwhile the original recipe is still kicking about out there in other chicken takeaways (assuming they cook the chicken properly!)

The first and second times I visited KFC in the US I was shocked there were no vegetables in their sandwiches. Other than the corn, and coleslaw, no lettuce or other ingredients in the sandwiches. In europe, and China and any other country I’ve seen KFC they have amazing Zinger sandwiches with lattice and sauces and grea flavor. We make it a point to never go to KFC in the US.

Every founder I have met after selling their company.

The real Colonel sounds amazing. Every time you guys exit your company to private equity, or sell it to some huge conglomerate, realize this is what will happen to it.

> My God, that gravy is horrible. They buy tap water for 15 to 20 cents a thousand gallons and then mix it with flour and starch and end up with pure wallpaper paste. And I know wallpaper paste, by God, because I’ve seen my mother make it.

Sanders might sound A LOT like Gordon Ramsay in this article, but I doubt Gordon ever shot and killed a man over a turf war and beat up one of his legal clients. I think I remember hearing the Colonel beat down at least one of his bosses. He must have coated himself in restaurant-grade teflon as he seemed to get away with it.. Should have called it Gangster Fried Chicken.

Fun fact: After selling out in the US, Colonel Sanders moved to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada to oversee the Canadian operations to ensure that the quality was of his liking.

When I grew up in the 80s in Canada, KFC was incredible, as were all of their items. At age 12, I scored a job working there too. During that time was when they announced their crispy chicken variant in Canada and "new taste" - but what we saw were new flour bags (we had to throw out the original flour bags), new oil in the cookers, new processes (no more soaking the chicken for 15 min before frying), and gravy that was made from a soup packet.

And while the chicken tasted the same, it was far more greasy and disgusting to handle compared to beforehand - and everyone noticed. I remember our manager telling us "Well I guess we now have to make it US style. But our prepared cost went from 11 cents per piece to 8 cents per piece after all bills are paid."

Here’s the original seasoning mix - https://marionkay.com/product/chicken-seasoning-99-x/

I used to have a photo of a man who owned a KFC with The Colonel on my fridge. Shot in the 70s, from his appearance. The man was our customer when I had a retail gig and gave me the photo. I wish I still had it. Here’s to Bernard.

> This ain’t no goddam Tennessee Fried Chicken, no matter what some slick, silk-suited son-of-a-bitch says.

I remember eating KFC in Japan, about 15 years ago, and it was markedly better than we get in Canada.

Here's the recipe for the Colonel's original herbs and spices seasoning:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2016/08/19/kfc-recipe-reveale...

KFC has been garbage for decades, at least in Canada. I hope Popeye's eats their lunch

> “They really gag me, that’s what I think of them”

When asked about a new product line, what a quote!

I guess he would need an "Extreme Makeover" to go on "Undercover Boss".

My dad was the financial controller for a large pizza chain in the '70s--they used to send him into the field to do spot checks, which was progressive IMO.

I remember the day when KFC started "boiling" the chicken it went from crispy to soggy.

Here in Canada currently there's big controversy KFC went halal. No more bacon!

Miracle whip in coleslaw? Not sure I can trust his judgement

From the newspaper article: "I'll never go to India, I don't like to see people sleeping in the streets"

The times, they are a'changeing and the Colonel would presumably "never go to (insert west coast city)" because of all the people sleeping (etc.) in the streets

I would have loved to see him write a "I will fucking piledrive you" style blog post on modern KFC.

Amusing that he griped about Tennessee fried chicken when the original restaurant was in Utah

Honestly, just try making buttermilk fried chicken at home. The Gordon Ramsay recipe is a great starting point, it's so freaking easy to make and you can mess with the spices you add to the flour no end to find your perfect flavour.

You end up with hot, tasty, crunchy fried chicken with a juicy center. You'll never eat KFC again once you've tried it.

Seems like an early example of "enshitification."

As a kid in the early 70's my dad would bring home a bucket and it was an amazing treat. As an adult near 60, I cannot eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. The few times I've tried the crazy level of salt* is repulsive and I feel awful afterward. I don't know if this a change in my sense of food, or change in the KFC product.

*My wife's family salts everything to hell and back. I think this is because their sense of taste is declining. So perhaps I've been gifted a sensitive palette that has not lost much with age. Its worth mentioning that my in-laws struggle with obesity, diabetes, and high-blood pressure. I'm thankfully afflicted with none of these things.