Chicken à la King ('chicken in the style of King') is a dish consisting of

diced Dicing is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into small blocks or dice. This may be done for aesthetic reasons or to create uniformly sized pieces to ensure even cooking. Dicing allows for distribution of flavour and texture thr ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

in a cream sauce, often with

sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

, and vegetables, generally served over

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures and made into a variety of shapes. The most common noo ...

s, or

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

.D'Amato, Luisa (October 17, 2007)
Delicious, easy to make and oddly addictive.
''The Waterloo Record'' (via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

) It is also often served in a

vol-au-vent A ''vol-au-vent'' (pronounced , French for "windblown", to describe its lightness) is a small hollow case of puff pastry. It was formerly also called a patty case. . A ''vol-au-vent'' is typically made by cutting two circles in rolled out p ...

or pastry case. It is sometimes made with tuna or turkey in place of chicken.

History

Various dishes of chicken "à la Reine" and "à la Royale" have appeared in cookbooks since as early as 1665, mostly without recipes; there is no indication that they are similar to the modern Chicken à la King. Several competing accounts about its origin have circulated: *One claim is it was created by

Delmonico's Delmonico's is a series of restaurants that have operated in New York City, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Manhattan. The origin ...

chef Charles Ranhofer as "Chicken à la Keene" in the 1880s, named after Foxhall Parker Keene. *Another version claims it was created in 1881 at

Claridge's Hotel Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. The hotel is owned and managed by the Maybourne Hotel Group. History Founding Claridge's traces its origins to Mivart's Hotel, which was founded ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and named for James R. Keene, father of Foxhall. *A third story is that the dish was devised in 1903 for Wolfram Mercy Keene, son of Foxhall and grandson of James. *A fourth, often disputed tale is that Chicken a la King was prepared for Dewberry William Keene, son of Wolfram, grandson of Foxhall, and great grandson of James. *Another account claims chef George Greenwald of the Brighton Beach Hotel in

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...

created it in 1898, naming it after patron E. Clarke King II and his wife.Allen, Beth and Susan Westmoreland (2004). ''Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook.'' Hearst Books, Gilbar, Steven (2008). ''Chicken a la King & the Buffalo Wing: Food Names and the People and Places.'' Writers Digest, *Another account is that chicken à la King was created in the 1890s by hotel cook William "Bill" King of the Bellevue Hotel in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Several obituaries in early March 1915 credited King after he died on March 4, 1915.Staff report (March 5, 1915). "Chicken a la King" inventor dies. ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...

'', p. 9, col. 5Via ''Philadelphia Ledger'' (14 March 1915). A name on all men's tongues. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', pg. M4 A ''

'' editorial at the time of King's death stated:

The name of William King is not listed among the great ones of the earth. No monuments will ever be erected to his memory, for he was only a cook. Yet what a cook! In him blazed the fire of genius which, at the white heat of inspiration, drove him one day, in the old Bellevue, in Philadelphia, to combine bits of chicken, mushrooms, truffles, red and green peppers and cream in that delight-some mixture which ever after has been known as "Chicken a la King."Editorial (7 March 1915). Chicken a la King. ''
New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
'', pg. 8, cols. 1-2

The recipe was mentioned in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1893,Staff (14 December 1893). Dinner to Princeton's Football Team. ''

'', p. 3. and early published recipes appeared in 1900''A Book of famous old New Orleans recipes used in the South for more than 200 years''. Peerless Printing Co., 1900; the 1900 date is dubious based on the recipes and the typography -- Goodreads.com gives 195

/ref> and 1905.Staff report (3 February 1905). Chicken a la King. '' Washington Times-Herald, Washington Times'', p. 7, col. 1

Fannie Merritt Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 16 January 1915) was an American culinary expert whose ''Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' became a widely used culinary text. Education Fannie Farmer was born on 23 March 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

included a recipe in her 1911 publication on catering.Farmer, Fannie Merritt (1911). ''Catering for special occasions.'' D. McKay The '' Fannie Farmer Cookbook'' includes a recipe for Chicken à la King in the 1906 update.Marion Cunningham, Fannie Merritt Farmer, Lauren Jarrett (1996). ''The Fannie Farmer cookbook''. Random House, Inc., p. 250. In

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...

's 1972 ''American Cookery'', the recipe calls for

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s, green

bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

, and

pimiento A pimiento or pimento or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper (''Capsicum annuum'') that measures long and wide (medium, elongate). Description and habitat Pimientos can have various colors including yellow ...

together with chicken in a

velouté sauce A velouté sauce () is a savory sauce that is made from a roux and a light stock. It is one of the " mother sauces" of French cuisine listed by chef Auguste Escoffier in the early twentieth century. ''Velouté'' is French for 'velvety'. In prep ...

with

. It was a popular dish during the middle to late 20th century.

References

External links

History of Poultry Dishes
at What's Cooking America {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicken a la King American chicken dishes Historical foods in American cuisine

History

See also

References

External links