Chicken à la King ('chicken in the style of King') is a dish consisting ofdicedchicken in acream sauce, often withsherry,mushrooms, and vegetables, generally served overrice,noodles, orbread.[1] It is also often served in avol-au-vent or pastry case.[2] It is sometimes made with tuna or turkey in place of chicken.
A 1900 (?) cookbook containing a chicken à la King recipe.
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.[3][4][5]
Several competing accounts about its origin have circulated:
One claim is it was created byDelmonico's chef Charles Ranhofer as "Chicken à la Keene" in the 1880s, named afterFoxhall Parker Keene.
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 inBrighton Beach created it in 1898, naming it after patron E. Clarke King II and his wife.[6][7][8]
Another account is that chicken à la King was created in the 1890s by hotel cook William "Bill" King of theBellevue Hotel inPhiladelphia. Several obituaries in early March 1915 credited King after he died on March 4, 1915.[9][10] ANew York Tribune 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."[11]
^Allen, Beth and Susan Westmoreland (2004).Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook. Hearst Books,ISBN978-1-58816-280-9
^Gilbar, Steven (2008).Chicken a la King & the Buffalo Wing: Food Names and the People and Places. Writers Digest,ISBN978-1-58297-525-2
^George Leonard Herter and Berthe E Herter, (1971) Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices, p31
^Staff report (March 5, 1915). "Chicken a la King" inventor dies.New York Tribune, p. 9, col. 5
^ViaPhiladelphia Ledger (14 March 1915). A name on all men's tongues.The Washington Post, pg. M4
^Editorial (7 March 1915). Chicken a la King.New York Tribune, pg. 8, cols. 1-2
^Staff (14 December 1893). Dinner to Princeton's Football Team.The New York Times, p. 3.
^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 1959[1]
^Staff report (3 February 1905). Chicken a la King.Washington Times, p. 7, col. 1
^Farmer, Fannie Merritt (1911).Catering for special occasions. D. McKay
^Marion Cunningham, Fannie Merritt Farmer, Lauren Jarrett (1996).The Fannie Farmer cookbook. Random House, Inc., p. 250.ISBN978-0-679-45081-8
