On the trail of the Kiev shearling

Wherever you go in the world, you can find chicken Kiev on restaurant menus almost everywhere. Whether in Central or Western Europe, Russia or Ukraine, or anywhere in the Americas, the name chicken Kiev is synonymous with a breaded chicken breast stuffed with spicy butter.

The origins of the chicken Kiev breast are, however, completely uncertain and, like so many other dishes, shrouded in the mists of time, its history, as with most cult foods, is steeped in creation. Given its name, we could clearly think of Kiev as the origin of our dish, but it's obviously no big secret that the first maker of this dish has been claimed not only by Russians but also by the French and even Americans.

But let's see what the food legendary has to say about all this!

Our first possible solution is, of course, Russia itself. Empress Elizabeth, who reigned in the mid-1900s, is said to have been a fan of French cuisine, and even surrounded herself with a large French-loving crowd at her court. It is said that, based on the then famous Cordon Bleu (chicken breast stuffed with cheese and ham), French chef Nikolas Francois Appert, who was at court, prepared the world's first chicken Kiev for the Empress.

According to the somewhat metaphorical, yet perfectly plausible, version B of the previous story, the story is simply that, in the wake of the French enthusiasm described above, the Tsar's court sent a number of Russian chefs to France to learn all the tricks of the trade. On returning home, one of the chefs would be the first to prepare this dish, based on what they had learned from the French masters, and would of course win the Tsarina's approval.

Although not strictly relevant, it is said that after this period there was a huge hole in the history of Russian gastronomy, as during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s many old Russian recipes, including the recipe for Kiev chicken breast, were lost. Fortunately, not forever!

Of course, there are more prosaic explanations than the above, as far as the history of the Kiev chicken breast is concerned. According to one story, in the early 19th century, a restaurant in St Petersburg called Kiev gave its name to a roll of fried chicken breast stuffed with herb butter.

Another story takes us straight to the United States, and New York in particular. It is said that after the Russian Revolution of October 1917, many emigrants came overseas and settled in America, and they were happy to have the chefs of the Russian restaurants they regularly visited in New York prepare this dish, which became known as Kiev.

But to take the above a step further, the first written record of the dish is said to be the menu of a Chicago restaurant called Yar, owned by a former official of the Tsarist army, dating back to 1937.

Speaking of Kiev.... While we're on the subject of tracing the origin of the name, the dish traditionally known as Kiev chicken breast has been called by many other names over the years, such as cotelettes de volaille, meatballs from Novomikhaylovsk and, with a twist in the preparation, Moscow meatballs.

If after reading the above you feel your mouth watering and can almost taste the spicy butter with a touch of garlic, don't hesitate: head to KIOSK. On our menu, this dish with an adventurous history is served with herb butter, mountain cheese, rice-bisi and green pea cream. Come and try it at our place!