Try This at Home: How to Make Fried Chicken

Marcus uses berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend, in his fried chicken. Find it at gourmet shops or kalustyans.com.

"At my restaurant [Red Rooster Harlem], we fry our chicken twice so it's extra crispy."

Combine the berbere, paprika, celery salt, white pepper, cumin, garlic powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a bowl.

Stir 1 cup salt and 8 cups cold water in a large bowl until the salt dissolves. Add the chicken to the brine, cover and refrigerate 1 hour, 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry.