 The late Roman cookbook of "Apicius" (c. 400), appears to list the ancient Romans' first use of deep frying to prepare Pullum Frontonianum, a chicken dish.The practice of deep frying spread to other parts of Europe and Arabia in the following centuries.Deep-fried foods such as funnel cakes arrived in northern Europe by the 13th century, and deep-fried fish recipes have been found in cookbooks in Spain and Portugal at around the same time.