marylandfriedchicken.com

Since the days of Mary Randolph, perhaps no one has done more to make "Maryland fried chicken" a familiar term than Albert Constantine, actually a native of nearby Wilmington, Del. After moving to Florida in 1959, Constantine, then 39, decided to become a restaurateur. With only "$2,500 and good credit," he bought a place in the Orlando area, dubbed it Constantine's, and served a traditional full menu.

Two years later, another newcomer appeared on the local dining scene--an honorary Kentucky colonel named Harland Sanders. "He had a line outside his store every day and all day Sunday," Constantine complains. "I figured I could do business like that too."

But first, he had to come up with a counter to the colonel's meal ticket. Constantine had a "broaster," a pressure-fryer for chicken, and he decided to put it to use. He experimented with thousands of combinations of ingredients; eventually he came up with a breading that he says incorporated 21 herbs and spices. Then he pressure-fried the chicken in pure peanut oil.

"It wasn't greasy at all," Constantine contends. "It was the best chicken in the world."