Rumor has it that KFC's secret recipe has been inadvertently revealed by a family member in Corbin, Kentucky.
In an earlier post, we discussed the conversation in detail, where a Chicago Tribune reporter interviewed Colonel Sanders’ nephew, Joe Ledington. While looking through an old scrapbook together, they stumbled upon a list of…wait for it…11 herbs and spices!
When asked if this was THE list of herbs and spices, Ledington replied that it did seem familiar, but that he wasn’t 100% sure. He had been one of the cooks at the first KFC, and had worked with the recipe himself, so if it seems familiar to him, it’s probably the real deal.
Of course, this is a problem for KFC. The secret recipe for the famous chicken has been locked away and kept safe and sound for years, and according to Quartz, KFC claims that the recipe is kept “in a digital safe that weighs more than 770 pounds and is encased in two feet of concrete with a 24-hour video and motion-detection surveillance system.” They even have the spice blend delivered from different locations in the U.S. before final blending.
This all seems a bit extreme for a recipe. Even if we did know how to make the chicken, we’d likely still want it made by the experts. We all know how to make hamburgers, and yet Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s still thrive, so it’s probably going to be ok.
Regardless, KFC won’t admit that this list is legit. They claim that people keep trying to replicate the real thing and that no one has been successful. Well, maybe they’re right and we’ll never know what really goes into making the chicken, but we do know one thing: Ledington revealed that white pepper was the biggest part of the secret ingredient list.
We also know that a “random” list of 11 herbs and spices (to be mixed with 2 cups of flour) was written in a family scrapbook of the Colonel Sanders. From there, it’s safe to say we can draw our own conclusions.