When coming to new cities and countries, people always want to try something new, which also means trying local cuisine. Chicken Kiev is one of the most popular dishes in traditional Ukrainian cuisine. It is a well-known dish in Russian and Polish cuisine too. The classic term for Chicken Kiev in Poland is “côtelette de volaille”. Chicken Kiev is, basically chicken fillet stuffed with garlic butter, coated with breadcrumbs, and then baked or fried. Butter melts inside and oozes out on to your plate when you cut chicken. It really tastes delicious! Chicken Kiev stands on the same level with Ukrainian borshch and varenyky when comparing the popularity of these dishes.
Chicken Kiev, also known as chicken Kyiv, is a popular breaded cutlet dish made of chicken fillet pounded and rolled around cold garlic butter, then coated with eggs and breadcrumbs, and either fried or baked.
This dish is very popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union. It is also well-loved in the English-speaking world. There are different ideas about where the name “chicken Kiev” comes from, but here are some of the most common ones.
It was invented in Kiev, Ukraine
One of the most popular oral traditions credits the invention of the “cutlet de volaille Kiev-style” to the restaurant of the Continental Hotel in Kiev in the early 1900s
When it was built in 1897, the fancy Continental Hotel was right in the middle of Kiev, which was then part of the Russian Empire. Before it was destroyed in 1941 during World War II, it was known for having great service and food. People who ate there at the time say that the chicken Kiev was the restaurant’s signature dish.
The earliest published references to chicken Kiev also point to its invention in Kiev. A 1915 Russian cookbook featured a recipe for “Kiev cutlets from chicken or veal”, shaped like croquettes with butter in the middle.
In the following decades, chicken Kiev, often still under its French name “côtelette de volaille”, was included in various Soviet food industry manuals and recipe books as a standard restaurant fare.
Even though no one knows for sure who created the dish, it is likely that chefs in Kiev in the early 1900s made it famous. The dish became known as “Kiev-style” cutlet, which came from the name of the Ukrainian city.
It was inspired by French cooking techniques
Another reason could be that Russian chefs have been heavily influenced by French food since the 18th century. A lot of people used French techniques and ways of cutting things, and they mixed them with local ingredients to make new things, like different kinds of cutlets.
The French term “côtelette de volaille” which refers to chicken cutlets, likely inspired the Russian version “kotleta de-volyay”, first mentioned in pre-revolutionary Russian literature.
Early recipes of “côtelette de volaille” involved complex stuffings, similar to French dishes like game cutlets “à la Maréchale”. The final innovation was likely replacing the stuffing with the characteristic cold butter.
The French origin is also suggested by some accounts attributing chicken Kiev to famous chefs like Marie-Antoine Carême who revolutionized Russian cuisine in the early 1800s.
So the Russian chicken Kiev could have evolved through adopting and adjusting French culinary techniques to local tastes. The French name was initially used, later changed to “Kiev-style”.
It originated from the Pozharsky cutlet
The use of butter as a filling for chicken cutlets came from an earlier iconic Russian dish – the Pozharsky cutlet.
Named after mid-19th century chef Ivan Pozharsky, it consists of minced chicken patties with butter mixed directly into the ground meat. Adding butter achieved an especially juicy and tender texture.
The Pozharsky cutlet became very influential, also known in French haute cuisine. It’s possible its butter-filled properties were adapted to make chicken Kiev, using chicken fillet instead of minced meat and putting the butter as a filling.
Some view chicken Kiev as an evolution from the Pozharsky cutlet. So the name could be related to continuing the culinary legacy started by Pozharsky’s innovative use of butter in cutlets.
It was rebranded from “cutlet de volaille”
During the Stalinist era in the USSR, there were efforts to replace traditional “bourgeois” French names of dishes on restaurant menus with new Soviet ones.
As a result, “côtelette de volaille”, the French name for chicken Kiev, was russified. The cutlet was now called “chicken cutlet stuffed with butter” in state restaurant manuals since the 1940s.
However, the traditional French name persisted in the following decades in some written records and oral use. The “Kiev style” designation likely helped differentiate it from other butter-filled chicken cutlets.
The French term has fully disappeared from post-Soviet states. However, it’s still used in Polish as “kotlet dewolaj” or in Ukraine as “kotleta de-volyay”.
So the “Kiev” name could have been adopted during the Soviet push to replace French cuisine terms, as a reminder of the dish’s Russian/Ukrainian origins.
It was served to tourists as a taste of Kiev
After World War II, chicken Kiev became a fixture of Soviet restaurants, especially the government-run Intourist hotel chain for foreigners.
As tourism to the USSR increased, chicken Kiev was likely promoted to visitors as a tasty symbol of traditional Kiev cuisine.
This popularized the dish and its name abroad, explaining the widespread familiarity with chicken Kiev in English-speaking countries during the Cold War era.
So the name could be rooted in chicken Kiev’s history as a famous export from Kiev’s restaurants introduced to foreign tourists.
Which is true?
While the exact origins are uncertain, the most convincing explanation seems to be the local invention of the dish by chefs in Kiev in the early 20th century.
The French culinary influence and Pozharsky cutlet legacy were also likely strong inspirations for developing chicken Kiev.
The name probably came about naturally to highlight the Kiev origin, since the dish was made famous there.
The Soviet rejection of French menu names meant the French term was replaced, but “Kiev-style” was kept as a reminder of the original birthplace of this classic dish.
No matter the fuzzy origins, chicken Kiev has become an iconic part of Russian and Ukrainian cuisine. The name immediately conjures images of the rich, butter-oozing stuffed chicken breast on dinner tables across Eastern Europe and beyond.
So while we may never know the exact circumstances, the lasting link between the dish and the city of Kiev seems highly appropriate. Exploring the possible explanations gives us a fascinating window into the food history intertwined with political and cultural change in the region.
Traditional Chicken Kiev Recipe
You can easily find a huge number of Chicken Kiev recipes on the Internet but the classic version of the recipe tastes the best, so surprise your family or friends and cook Chicken Kiev for dinner. To cook Chicken Kiev at home, you’ll need:
- Herbs
- Butter 150 gr
- Garlic
- Pepper and salt
- 2 chicken fillet
- 2 eggs
- Flour
- Breadcrumbs
- Olive oil
Place the herbs, garlic, pepper, salt and butter in a mixing bowl, and mix them well. Wrap the butter with herbs in a plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. This is for the filling that you’ll put inside of the fillet. Feel free to add any extra spices or herbs as long as they complement the chicken well. You can also add some cheese to make Chicken Kiev even more delicious. The butter and cheese will melt inside and make the chicken juicy and tasty.
Slice the chicken fillet and pound it until it becomes thin. Be careful not to make holes otherwise the butter will leak. Do not forget to season chicken too with some salt and pepper. Put the herb butter in the middle of the chicken fillet. Then, fold in two opposite ends of the fillet and roll the chicken from the bottom to the top. Put chicken in flour, then beaten egg, and then breadcrumbs.
Chicken Kiev can be baked or fried but make sure you have enough oil in the pan. It is usually cooked for 20-25 minutes and presto! Chicken Kiev is ready to be served.
Does the name ‘Chicken Kiev’ really come from Kyiv?
It would be logical to assume that the name of the dish originates from the name of the capital of Ukraine – Kyiv. , but it does not. Even though there is no documented proof, many Ukrainian chefs agree that authentic recipe originates from France. There are numerous stories about how the recipe got to Russia and Ukraine. Some stories have documented evidence, others exist just like fairy tales.
In late 1840’s rich people from Russia sent their chefs to France to master French cooking techniques and bring recipes of the best chefs to Russia. According to another version, the Chicken Kiev recipe was invented by Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef at the Court of Alexander I. He spent only several months during the whole year in Russia but that was enough to impact Russian cuisine. Therefore, invention of the recipe is attributed to his frequent visits to Russia. However, you will not find any information about “côtelette de volaille” in Carême’s cooking books today.
“Côtelette de volaille” is a purely French term, which literally means chicken cutlet. There is no solid proof, but some chefs state that the French also used veal instead of poultry because at that time chicken was an expensive product. Rich people could only afford it because it was seen as a real treat, so chicken was used instead of the original recipe to save money. Even though there is this version, French and Ukrainian chefs think that chicken has always been the main ingredient in the original Chicken Kiev recipe.
The Ukrainian recipe of Chicken Kiev that we know today was invented in the restaurant of Continental hotel in Kiev in 1918. We can only assume that it originated from “côtelette de volaille”. Chicken Kiev was cooked only for officers of command staff of Skoropadsky Hetman and became extremely popular.
Is Chicken Kiev Ukrainian? #shorts
FAQ
How did chicken Kiev get its name?
Except the Russians viewed the dish as theirs, from the Muscovy region of the Soviet Union, a dish of chicken with a butter sauce covered in breadcrumbs that was refined by a Ukrainian chef in the 19th century. He was from Kiev, hence the name. The chef came from Kiev, not the dish.
Why is chicken Kiev now Kyiv?
The spelling matters to Ukrainians. In March 2022 Woolworths told Australian media that it was changing its spelling from “kiev” to “kyiv” to stand in solidarity with Ukrainians living in Australia. The brands stocked in the trans-Tasman supermarket chain soon followed suit.
Why is Kiev now called Kiev?
Kiev is the city’s traditional English name, but many Western news outlets stopped using it after the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 and the KyivNotKiev campaign that Ukraine started to change the way international media talk about the city. This is because Kiev comes from the Russian name for the city.
Why is it called the chicken Kiev speech?
It outraged Ukrainian nationalists and American conservatives, with the conservative New York Times columnist William Safire calling it the “Chicken Kiev speech”, named after the dish of stuffed chicken breast, in protest at what he saw as its “colossal misjudgment”, weak tone and miscalculation.