Chicken and waffles
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| Chicken and Waffles | |
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| Chicken and waffles | |
| Origin Information | |
| Country of Origin : | United States |
| Creator(s) of the dish : | Unknown |
| Dish Information | |
| Serving Temperature : | Hot |
| Main Ingredient(s) : | Fried Chicken Waffles Butter Syrup |
Chicken and waffles is a dish, combining waffles, typically a breakfast food, with chicken, sometimes fried, that is served in certain specialty restaurants in the United States.[1] The most famous of these are Roscoe's five restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
It's important to note, however, that there are two types of dishes that go by the name of chicken and waffles. The first type is one not often referred to: it consists of a plain waffle with pulled, stewed chicken on top, covered in gravy. This dish is mostly known within areas that have Pennsylvania Dutch influences. The most common usage of the phrase, however, refers to the serving of fried chicken along with a waffle, the waffle then typically being covered with butter and/or syrup (as is common practice among those who eat waffles for breakfast in the United States). This unusual combination of foods is beloved by many people who are influenced by traditions of soul food passed down from past generations of their families.[1]
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[edit] History
The exact origins of the dish are unknown; there are several versions of its origins.
One version:
- "As unusual as it might seem, the marriage of chicken and waffles actually has deep roots. Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron back from France in the 1790s and the combination began appearing in cookbooks shortly thereafter. The pairing was enthusiastically embraced by African Americans in the South. For a people whose cuisine was based almost entirely on the scraps left behind by landowners and plantation families, poultry was a rare delicacy; in a flapjack culture, waffles were similarly exotic. As a result, chicken and waffles for decades has been a special-occasion meal in African American families, often supplying a hearty Sunday morning meal before a long day in church..."[2]
Another version:
- Some historians believe the dish goes back to the late 19th century, when Southern African-Americans, recently freed from slavery, began migrating to the Northern United States. According to author John T. Edge: "My guess is that it comes from the days when someone would go out in the morning and wring a chicken's neck and fry it for breakfast. Preparing a breakfast bread with whatever meat you have on the hoof, so to speak, comes out of the rural tradition."[1]
Benny's Home Cooked.com notes:
- "It is interesting to note that this combination and/or recipe does not appear in What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, Abby Fisher, 1881. Mrs. Fisher was a former slave and her book is generally considered the first cookbook written by an African-American. These foods appear (but not together) in Mrs. Porter's Southern Cookery Book, Mrs. Porter, 1871."[3]
[edit] Wells Supper Club
A restaurant named the Wells Supper Club in Harlem (1938-1999) used the slogan "Wells: Home of Chicken and Waffles, Since 1938".[4] A commonly quoted story is that the Wells Supper Club started selling the chicken and waffles dish to late-night patrons of their club in 1938; as it was too late for dinner, and too early for breakfast, Wells served both dishes on the one plate.[5][6]
[edit] Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles
From Harlem, "chicken and waffles" was brought across the country to Los Angeles by Herb Hudson, who founded Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles in the mid 1970s. It's believed, although unprovable, that Hudson and his friend Roscoe (whose full name is unknown) had moved to Southern California from New York to open their restaurant in Hollywood.
[edit] Gladys Knight & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles
Gladys Knight and Ron Winans founded a "chain" of chicken and waffles restaurants in 1997. The original restaurant opened in Atlanta, Georgia, with subsequent restaurants in Lithonia, Georgia and the Washington, D.C., suburb of Landover, Maryland, in The Boulevard at the Capital Centre.[7][8] The restaurant was featured on the opening episode of the Food Network's show Dweezil & Lisa (January 2004).
[edit] Popularity
The popularity of chicken and waffles has much to do with the success of Roscoe's chain of restaurants, which brought the dish more into the mainstream. What helped spread the popularity of Roscoe's was celebrity support of his restaurant - Herb Hudson knew people who worked in Motown and in television, such as Natalie Cole; later, more celebrities, such as Redd Foxx, would tell their television audience that Roscoe's was a place they should eat. In recent decades, Arsenio Hall and Snoop Dogg have helped popularize Roscoe's, speaking of the restaurant in their performances and television shows. Will Smith also made frequent references to Roscoe's on his sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the movie Jackie Brown, the character played by Samuel L. Jackson offers to treat the character played by Chris Tucker to dinner at Roscoe's if he will only kill a group of gang members. Jackson's character double-crosses Tucker's, murdering him. This is the first instance, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, of "one character luring another to his death with the promise of chicken and waffles."
[edit] Other Restaurants
Besides those mentioned above, there are other chicken and waffles restaurants in the United States. There are some such restaurants in Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and Oakland.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Edge, John T. (2004) Fried Chicken: An American Story. Putnam Publishing Group. ISBN 0-399-15183-4
- ^ "Serving up chicken and waffles", Los Angeles Business Journal, September 22, 1997 (p.1) - reproduced at: http://www.bennyshomecooked.com/chicken_southern_food_in_the_uni.htm
- ^ http://www.bennyshomecooked.com/chicken_southern_food_in_the_uni.htm Benny's Home Cooked.com
- ^ The "Wells Home of Chicken and Waffles, Since 1938" logo used in the mid-eighties is available online from the US Patent & Trademark Office. Select trademarks, TESS search, registration #1431599.
- ^ "For 60 Years, Wells has Nourished the Harlem Community", New York Amsterdam News, April 8, 1999 (p.27) - reproduced at: http://www.bennyshomecooked.com/chicken_southern_food_in_the_uni.htm This article also provides a brief history of Joseph T Wells and his wife Elizabeth.
- ^ "Fine Dining Returns to Harlem ", Uptown Flavor, February 22, 2005. http://uptownflavor.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/allen-west-harlem-grill/ This article also provides a brief bio of Joe Wells.
- ^ Gladys and Ron's home page
- ^ Gladys and Ron's Company history
