Chicken Kiev (1938) (Chicken Supreme?)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

"Chicken Kiev" was probably served the earliest in Chicago restaurants, but  
I finally added it to my NYC food and drink page. Does anyone have  earlier?
...
There are quite a few "chicken supreme" cites in the 1930s, but does this  
look like Chicken Kiev? 
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As usual, I am barred from adding this material to the Wikipedia and giving  
myself any credit.
...
...
...
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/chicken_kiev_chicken_
a_la_kiev/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/chicken_kiev_chicken_a_la_kiev/) 
...
 
Chicken Kiev (Chicken a la Kiev)
 
Chicken Kiev (or Chicken a la Kiev) is named after the capital of the  
Ukraine. The origin of the dish is uncertain. Some hold that the dish was  invented 
by Russian immigrants in cities such as New York. 

Several  Chicago restaurants (such as Yar and the Imperial House) served 
Chicken Kiev in  the 1930s and 1940s, and it appears that this is earlier than 
when New York City  restaurants offered the dish. 


_Wikipedia: Chicken Kiev_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Kiev)   
Chicken Kiev is a dish of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled  around 
cold unsalted butter, then breaded and fried. It is also known as Chicken  
Supreme. As its popularity spread internationally, various seasonings have been  
added to the butter. Fresh peas and fried julienned potatoes are the 
traditional  accompaniments to the dish in Ukraine. 

This famous method of preparing  chicken or pheasant is not of Ukrainian 
origin as the name Kiev, the national  capital, would imply. It was invented by 
the Frenchman, Nicolas François Appert  (1749–1841), a brewer, pickler, 
confectioner, and chef who discovered the  principles of canning and preserving of 
food. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna  (1741–1762) of Russia preferred French foods 
and fashions, and by the late 18th  century wealthy Russian households were 
hiring French chefs, or sending their  cooks to train in France. Because of this, 
French dishes were widely imitated.  

Russian cookbooks have recipes for a similar French dish called  côtelettes 
de volaille—not Chicken Kiev. It is generally thought that  early New York City 
restaurants trying to please the many Russian immigrants  gave the name Kiev. 
The name went back to Europe and has become a popular  moniker to describe 
the food. After World War II, Chicken Kiev became popular in  Russian 
restaurants.  

(Oxford English Dictionary) 
chicken  Kiev [Kiev, the name of a city in Russia], chicken breast fried or  
baked with a stuffing of (garlic) butter 
1950 Gourmet Cookbk. 301  (heading) *Chicken cutlets Kiev. 

25 February 1938, Dallas Morning  News, “Unusual Dishes From Sirniki to 
Blinys Discovered by Food Expert on  Recent Trip,” section 1, pg. 10: 
Some of my Chicago friends took me to the  same restaurant (a Russian 
restaurant called Yar—ed.) for dinner one night and  ordered the specialty of the 
house, stuffed breast of chicken, Kieff. If you  have ever eaten chicken prepared 
in this manner you know that you must begin at  the small end of the batter 
shell which surrounds it. When you cut into it a  savory butter sauce pours 
out. 

26 October 1938, Washington Post,  “News of Capital Night Clubs,” pg. X16: 
A rare morsel is Troika’s breast of  chicken a la Kieff.  The commendable Mr. 
Kieff seems to have been the  Ziegfeld of chicken breast. 

6 October 1939, Chicago Daily  Tribune, pg. 28: 
Chicken Kiev at The Yar—breast of chicken with so much  butter inside it 
spurts out when your fork goes in. 

16 March 1939,  Chicago Daily Tribune, “Chefs Reveal a Fondness for Plain 
Dishes,” pg.  18: 
Michael A. Thompson, who has been a chef for twelve of his thirty-two  years, 
is in charge of the kitchen at the Yar. His favorite recipe is chicken a  la 
Kiev, which he introduced to Chicago, he says, ten years ago. It is  
chicken-breast with sweet butter and prepared in a fashion which Mr. Thompson  has no 
intention of bandying about. He says he’s told a few other chefs how to  make 
it and that’s enough. 

July 1948, Gourmet, pg. 59:  
Chicken Cutlet a la Kiev 

21 April 1959, Dallas Morning News,  “Recipes of the Day” by Julie Benell, 
section 3, pg. 4: 
The Imperial House  in Chicago is one of the well-known restaurants in the 
country. Here is their  recipe for Chicken Kiev for which they are famous. It’s 
a lot of trouble, but  worth it. 

CHICKEN KIEV: 
IMPERIAL HOUSE 

Breasts of 3 3-pound  chickens, 9 tablespoons chilled sweet butter, 1 cup 
flour, 4 eggs beaten, 1/3  cup milk, 3 cups sifted fresh finely crushed bread 
crumbs, vegetable shortening.  

Bone chicken breasts, leaving a joint of wing attached. Flatten the  breasts 
with a cleaver, then stuff each one with 3 tablespoons of chilled  butter. 
Carefully seal the edges with toothpicks. Dip the stuffed breasts in  flour, then 
in egg beaten with milk and roll them in bread crumbs. Then redip  the 
breasts in flour, in egg and milk mixture and bread crumbs. Fry in 3 inches  of hot 
vegetable shortening, 375 F. for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.  
Remove toothpicks, serve immediately. Serves six. 

Mash potatoes and  broccoli with hollandaise sauce go well with this chicken 
entree. 




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