Everything about Chicken And Waffles totally explained
Chicken and waffles is a dish, combining
waffles, typically a breakfast food, with
chicken, sometimes fried, that's served in certain specialty restaurants in the
United States.
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've on the hoof, so to speak, comes out of the rural tradition."
Benny's Home Cooked.com notes:
» "It is interesting to note that this combination and/or recipe doesn't 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."
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". 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.
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.
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. The restaurant was featured on the opening episode of the
Food Network's show
Dweezil & Lisa (January 2004).
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'll 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."
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chicken And Waffles'.
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