Fried chicken is a deeply personal thing. Preferences are not just a matter of taste but tradition. Just ask Rick Bragg, who has spent a lifetime in the South cultivating a love story with the dish and forming his own stubborn beliefs about everything from the seasoning to how the chicken is dredged.

His family recipe is tied to memories of both his mother, Margaret, and his grandmother, Ava, who he grew up watching prepare the dish. It has few frills, as he writes, “She [Ava] would lightly dust the pieces with salt, flour, and a pinch of black pepper before frying them in lard in an ancient iron skillet.” But sometimes the best things in life are the simplest, and that includes fried chicken.