Celebrity square meals #29: Buttermilk fried chicken by Arthur Baker, record producer and restaurateur

Serves two

I've been big into fried chicken ever since I met Colonel Sanders. It changed my life. I was a kid in the Fontainbleau hotel in Miami - this was back in the Sixties - and out of the elevator he comes with a walking stick and cowboy boots. I have proof, a picture of us - swear to God.

I've been big into fried chicken ever since I met Colonel Sanders. It changed my life. I was a kid in the Fontainbleau hotel in Miami - this was back in the Sixties - and out of the elevator he comes with a walking stick and cowboy boots. I have proof, a picture of us - swear to God.

Whenever I eat good soul food it reminds me of the joints I hung out in with bands in the States. I've searched the Deep South for the best recipe, but this one beats them all - it's from Fiona Ruane, our new chef at Harlem (in west London). She used to work in Jimmy's, one of New York's best soul food restaurants, and she's cooked for Prince and the Clintons, so she's pretty rock'n'roll.

1 chicken cut into 8
Corn oil for frying
1lb plain flour
5oz cornmeal
2tsp salt
2tsp black pepper

for the marinade

2pts buttermilk
1tbsp each of salt
1tbsp dried mustard powder
1tbsp black pepper
1tbsp paprika
1tbsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper

Mix the marinade and immerse the chicken in it for 4-24 hours, covered and in the frige. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Remove the chicken and shake off excess marinade. In batches, add the chicken pieces to the flour mix and shake to coat completely. Rest it on baking parchment until they're all done.

Fry the chicken in batches, skin-side down for 8-10 minutes, then turn and fry on the other side for 8-10 minutes until cooked. Remove, drain and eat straight away.

Harlem, 78 Westbourne Grove, London W2 (020-7985 0900)