The mid-20th century American cuisine often faced criticism for dishes characterized by canned, powdered, and frozen ingredients, any freshness or flavor sacrificed for convenience. However, some dishes, such as Salisbury steak and chicken à la king, prove that older recipes can still offer satisfaction when prepared properly. Chicken à la king, dating back to the late 1800s, has several disputed origins, including claims of its creation at the Brighton Beach Hotel and connections to two individuals named Keene, illustrating complexities in its history.
The middle of the century was not kind to American cooking, or at least, we haven't been kind looking back on these old-school dishes. The popular dishes of the '50s and '60s now mostly have a bad reputation, usually for embracing modern canned, powdered, and frozen ingredients that forewent freshness and flavor for affordability and convenience.
Salisbury steak is just an American version of the classic Hamburg steak, and can be very satisfying if actually made fresh. And if you've ever dismissed chicken à la king as nothing but a microwavable mess, think again.
The dish first appeared sometime in the late 1800s, but while recipes were appearing in cookbooks by the 1890s, nobody knows for sure who actually created the dish or why it's named 'à la king.' The most repeated story is that it was created at the Brighton Beach Hotel in New York and named after the hotel's owner.
There are actually two different stories about chicken à la king that posit it was named after two different related people named Keene, leading to a more appetizing sounding king.
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