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Eat 'em Up Chicken and Waffles

Eat 'em Up Chicken and Waffles
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  • Eat 'em Up Chicken and Waffles

    Post #1 - July 26th, 2004, 7:21 pm
    Post #1 - July 26th, 2004, 7:21 pm Post #1 - July 26th, 2004, 7:21 pm
    Gary's mention of Roscoe's got me thinking I might as well post on a recent Chicago chicken and waffle experience, more as a warning than a recommendation.

    Chicken and waffles, possibly introduced as a combo in the 1930s at Wells Restaurant in Harlem, were popularized by Roscoe's in Los Angeles but never really made it big in Chicago. There are a number of local places that have chicken and waffles on the menu but there are few specialists. Wangs and Thangs on E 79th featured chicken and waffles but I don't think they stayed in business even a year (I never got there before they closed).

    Sometime in the last year Eat 'em Up Chicken and Waffles opened on 71st near Stony. It's takeout only (there are 3 stools so in theory you could eat there) and has a limited menu featuring chicken and waffles. They also have shrimp, catfish, plus a few salads and sandwiches, as well as "The Famous Rita Mae's Kool-Aid." The only chicken they serve is wings and the only chicken and waffle options are 3 wings + 1 waffle ($4.99) or 5 wings + 2 waffles ($6.99).

    The circular waffle was very tender, a little undercooked perhaps, but it had a nice sweet-salty flavor. It came with a tub of syrup, a tub of hot sauce and several packages of whipped margarine (the menu promises butter). No gravy is offered. The wings had a thin breading and were very greasy. Not good at all and not worth finishing. At 5 bucks this wasn't even close to a good deal. The store has your basic bulletproof turntable setup (no problem with me) but had a really nasty feature: there was a water leak in the ceiling so it was impossible to pick up the order off the turntable without getting dripped upon. I find it hard to believe a place like this could stay in business for long without some drastic changes.

    A random neighborhood note: just across Stony I was surprised to see a brand new Starbucks poised to open.

    [Eat 'em Up closed in 2005]

    Eat 'em Up
    "Chicago's Own Chicken and Waffles"
    1550 E 71st St
    Chicago
    Mon-Sat 8-10, Sun 11-7
    Last edited by Rene G on February 2nd, 2006, 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  • Post #2 - July 26th, 2004, 11:06 pm
    Post #2 - July 26th, 2004, 11:06 pm Post #2 - July 26th, 2004, 11:06 pm
    Hey Rene,

    I vaguely remember Wangs and Thangs -- was that a long ago place?

    Very much enjoyed your description of this miserable joint -- especially the drip, drip over the orders.

    The concept of sweet pastry (waffle, cake, fruit pie, etc.) and meat (whether chicken or steak) is revolting to me. I mean, I like Beef Wellington, but the idea of a sugary baked item and flesh seems strange and unappealing. I always chuckled when driving by Perkin's "Steak n' Cake" places in Wisconsin -- a grotesque concept.

    David
  • Post #3 - July 27th, 2004, 2:14 am
    Post #3 - July 27th, 2004, 2:14 am Post #3 - July 27th, 2004, 2:14 am
    David Hammond wrote:The concept of sweet pastry (waffle, cake, fruit pie, etc.) and meat (whether chicken or steak) is revolting to me. I mean, I like Beef Wellington, but the idea of a sugary baked item and flesh seems strange and unappealing. I always chuckled when driving by Perkin's "Steak n' Cake" places in Wisconsin -- a grotesque concept.


    David:

    I understand and agree with your point by and large; indeed, part of my problem with Chicago style pizza is, I think, a bad reaction to an unusual and unwelcome extra sweetness in a savoury dish which in my mind is not appropriate. But I don't really care to enter the world of pizza debates so much at the moment. It just struck me that a) you're basically or generally right, me seems, about the combination of meat and sweet, from our general modern Western perspective, and yet b) that combination is at some times and places regarded as a great treat. The first thing that came to mind was, for whatever reason, the famous North African (esp. Moroccan) sweet meat-pie: pastilla recipe from web.

    In the Middle Ages and in classical antiquity, such combinations were not unusual but have become for us quite marginal, if at all acceptable. I think real mince-meat pie, which is a dessert dish and does traditionally include meat, is no longer thought of as being connected to flesh at all any more (peruse, for example, the "Old fashioned mincemeat pie recipe at this website.

    My mother and brother both have made some spectacular mincemeat pies at Christmas time over the years, mit Fleisch... Nam nam... There's also an old Neapolitan stand-by called sanguinaccia, a sweet made with pig's blood... These things don't seem (all that) weird to me but chicken and waffels does seem weird to me. And somehow, chicken and waffels doesn't intrigue me all that much but a real, authentic and expertly-made Moroocan pastilla is something I would love to try.

    How 'bout sweet fish pies? Do they exist at all? Now that would be really weird, I think...

    A
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.
  • Post #4 - July 27th, 2004, 3:03 am
    Post #4 - July 27th, 2004, 3:03 am Post #4 - July 27th, 2004, 3:03 am
    Hey Antonius,

    I have to believe that someone, somewhere, enjoys a sweet fish pie (not to mention steak and cake). I was just expressing a personal preference that I'm perfectly willing to challenge, should a tasty-looking-sugary-meat-and-pastry be set before me (not impossible; just unlikely, it seems).

    And maybe I'm wrong about the seeming grotesquery of chicken and waffles; heck, none other than Gladys Knight (of the Pips) owns (or at least allows her name to be used by) two restaurants serving such things (http://www.gladysandron.com/) -- both in Georgia (the "about us" page explains an early fascination with the same dish in Harlem). The venerable Holly of Holly Eats has been there and gave it three grease stains (http://www.hollyeats.com/GladysKnigtsChickenWaffles.htm).

    On Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle page (http://users.aol.com/stranahan/roscoes.htm), we're assured that "Okay, a lot of people find the ideas of Chicken and Waffles on the same plate odd. I used to find it odd, but I like odd. However, if you're in L.A., you OWE it to yourself to find the nearest 'scoe's and learn what the hell you've been missing all this time." These guys also serve a chicken liver omelette.

    David "I'll Try Anything Twice" Hammond
  • Post #5 - July 27th, 2004, 5:50 am
    Post #5 - July 27th, 2004, 5:50 am Post #5 - July 27th, 2004, 5:50 am
    I don't know. The combination of honey and fried chicken has been around for quite some time, especially in the South. The addition of a waffle to the mix is not that farfetched to me.

    P.S. Does anyone remember a restaurant called Johnson's that specialized in fried chicken and served a big pancake syrup container of honey with every order? Fried chicken and honey at Johnson's is one of my great memories from childhood. Johnson's was located on the corner of Cicero and Peterson/Caldwell in the 50's and early 60's
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #6 - July 27th, 2004, 6:20 am
    Post #6 - July 27th, 2004, 6:20 am Post #6 - July 27th, 2004, 6:20 am
    Hi all,

    You know, as much as waffles are served with sweet syrups, the waffle itself is not particularly sweet. BTW, the crisper the waffle the higher the fat content of the batter. You wouldn't shy away from eating your chicken with corn bread, rice or potatoes, right? In this chicken and waffles combo, it is acting as a bland starch, a crunchy texture but certainly not a sweet.

    Crepes, which are just as at home as a main course as they are as a dessert, differ by the introduction of sugar-to-the-batter between their roles. You would hardly get excited, I would suggest you may even be delighted, if they came to the same meal as different courses.

    I have had a sweet fish pie, or at least there were raisins in the composition, in Eastern Europe.

    In summation, you're thinking waffle as breakfast food, liberate your thinking and let it be a dinner side!
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #7 - July 27th, 2004, 7:59 am
    Post #7 - July 27th, 2004, 7:59 am Post #7 - July 27th, 2004, 7:59 am
    Crepes, Galettes, Pannekoeken etc.

    Cathy2 wrote:Crepes, which are just as at home as a main course as they are as a dessert, differ by the introduction of sugar-to-the-batter between their roles. You would hardly get excited, I would suggest you may even be delighted, if they came to the same meal as different courses.


    That's commonly done in places where crepes-like substances are used a lot and highly appreciated. Places specialising in Dutch 'pannekoeken' sometimes offered such meals or at least allowed for the possibility; there used to be a mom-and-pop pancake shop in Amsterdam in an especially old house where one could do that and simultaneously enjoy an amazing atmosphere. And I have eaten a multi-course meal based on 'galettes' in Brittany a couple of times... a typical sequence involves, as I remember it, three galettes, starting perhaps with a seafood galette, followed by a meaty or cheesy galette followed by a dessert galette... Very tasty and worth doing on a lark or in a pinch... In any event, I enjoyed the experience...

    But indeed, there is no especial tendency in this sort of dish to mix the savoury and the sweet: the pancake is a neutral vessel for carrying one or the other sort of preparation.

    A
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.
  • Post #8 - July 27th, 2004, 11:05 am
    Post #8 - July 27th, 2004, 11:05 am Post #8 - July 27th, 2004, 11:05 am
    Antonius wrote:And somehow, chicken and waffels doesn't intrigue me all that much but a real, authentic and expertly-made Moroocan pastilla is something I would love to try.


    Chicken and waffles can be very good. But I doubt it can be as good as a real, authentic and expertly-made Moroccan b'stilla. Does anyone know where to obtain such a thing in Chicago?

    I've had the version at Andalous Moroccan on Clark just north of Belmont and it was sub-par. My par is the b'stilla at Mataam Fez in Boulder, Colorado. I've had it approximately five times, and I would have it every day if I could. Truly sublime.

    Keep eating,
    J. Ro
  • Post #9 - July 27th, 2004, 12:03 pm
    Post #9 - July 27th, 2004, 12:03 pm Post #9 - July 27th, 2004, 12:03 pm
    I have some friends who lived in Morocco for a couple of years. Upon their return to the States, they prepared a Bastilla as part of their returning party. The recepie was from an old Moroccan woman they had met and befriended during their stay. It was an excellent dish and a taste that I have not been able to duplicate anywhere around here. I would love to hear of a Morroccan restaurant where good bastilla is available. Bastilla is, indeed, a great blending of sweet and savory.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #10 - July 27th, 2004, 1:58 pm
    Post #10 - July 27th, 2004, 1:58 pm Post #10 - July 27th, 2004, 1:58 pm
    I've made bastilla a couple of times from a recipe in a book called "Under Wraps" (a great cookbook that I can't find listed anywhere online, that covers everything from crepes to phyllo to lettuce wraps to salt crust... lots of cool stuff) with great success, and I've had it at a couple of moroccan restaurants (Disney World's was 'eh', the one in L.A. was pretty darn good).

    But really, there's lots of asian dishes sweeter than this: sweet and sour pork, (some) teriyaki steak, mee krob, sugarcane shrimp... Is it the pastry aspect that you're trying to match sweet and meat?

    As kids, we always put honey on KFC. hot dog relish has a lot of sugar... it's not that weird.
  • Post #11 - July 27th, 2004, 2:18 pm
    Post #11 - July 27th, 2004, 2:18 pm Post #11 - July 27th, 2004, 2:18 pm
    JoelF wrote:As kids, we always put honey on KFC. hot dog relish has a lot of sugar... it's not that weird.


    Maybe for you! :D :wink:
    A
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.
  • Post #12 - July 27th, 2004, 2:34 pm
    Post #12 - July 27th, 2004, 2:34 pm Post #12 - July 27th, 2004, 2:34 pm
    I don't think it is weird at all.I see no difference whether the meat or sauce is sweet like a honey ham or a sweet bbq sauce or the starch itself is sweet. Of course I may be crazy.
  • Post #13 - July 27th, 2004, 4:03 pm
    Post #13 - July 27th, 2004, 4:03 pm Post #13 - July 27th, 2004, 4:03 pm
    Not weird at all. What about bacon pancakes with maple syrup (or for that matter, dipping your bacon or sausage in the syrup)? Salty meat plus sweet goo is a fairly common food taste that I'm not ashamed to admit I share. (Please ignore any double entendre in that last sentence.)
  • Post #14 - July 27th, 2004, 5:08 pm
    Post #14 - July 27th, 2004, 5:08 pm Post #14 - July 27th, 2004, 5:08 pm
    Now I crave chicken and waffles topped with peanut sauce.And a side of maple sausage.
  • Post #15 - July 27th, 2004, 7:35 pm
    Post #15 - July 27th, 2004, 7:35 pm Post #15 - July 27th, 2004, 7:35 pm
    Hey, Antonious,

    Don't forget the Arab-influenced Sicilian dishes that have meat and fruit in them....

    Giovanna
    =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

    "Enjoy every sandwich."

    -Warren Zevon
  • Post #16 - July 28th, 2004, 10:01 am
    Post #16 - July 28th, 2004, 10:01 am Post #16 - July 28th, 2004, 10:01 am
    Giovanna wrote:Hey, Antonious,
    Don't forget the Arab-influenced Sicilian dishes that have meat and fruit in them....


    Antonius wrote:In the Middle Ages and in classical antiquity, such combinations were not unusual but have become for us quite marginal, if at all acceptable...


    Giovanna:

    Yes, there are quite a few savoury recipes in the Sicilian repertoire that have a strong sweet component. My comment that I found, for example, honey and fried chicken or even sweet pickle relish weird was partly or largely tongue-in-cheek, as the little emoticons were intended to convey. On the other hand, I personally tend away from things that are very sweet, generally avoiding desserts, sweet snacks, soft drinks, etc.

    Sicilian cuisine is really interesting and, in my opinion, swell (that's intended as extremely high praise!). Back in the old country (Jersey... I think I skipped mentioning that place in a few of my recent contributions), we had some Essex-County Sicilian friends (Newark, the Oranges) who were as traditional in their family cooking as my family was. It was always fun to hear what they were eating and argue about, as the Iron Chef announcer says, 'which cuisine would reign supreme', the Sicilian or the Neapolitan.

    Without a doubt, there are a number of clear Arab influences in Sicilian cookery and to deny them would be the height of foolishness or dishonesty. BUT, I also think that there is strong tendency these days to attribute to Arab influence anything from the Mediterranean that strikes northern Europeans and especially Americans as 'odd' or not conforming to their expectations or ideals of (western) Mediterranean cooking. I'm working on and off on a scholarly look at certain of these claims. I don't want to tip my hand on any specifics, pending on-going research and ultimate composition of text, but for the meanwhile I will just say that the Sicilians have been very judicious in accepting outside influences and adapting them to their own aesthetic sensibilities, while also maintaining lots of ancient traditions. I shall, perhaps, blether some more on this topic in the future, in sha'allah.

    Antonius
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.
  • Post #17 - July 28th, 2004, 10:27 am
    Post #17 - July 28th, 2004, 10:27 am Post #17 - July 28th, 2004, 10:27 am
    Antonius -

    Yes, the Sicilians are quite adaptable. I'm always surprised at how much Greek influence I think I see in the culture.

    Even at only half Sicilian, I tend to get really good service at non-misogynist Italian, Greek, and Middle Eastern restaurants. I refer to myself as "second-cousin to the Mediterranean". [There are some men from all of those cultures who don't care much for women wandering around on their own, even if I do look like family.]

    Giovanna
    =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

    "Enjoy every sandwich."

    -Warren Zevon
  • Post #18 - October 7th, 2007, 9:10 pm
    Post #18 - October 7th, 2007, 9:10 pm Post #18 - October 7th, 2007, 9:10 pm
    Do It Yourself Chicken and Waffles

    When I first learned about Chicken and Waffles some years ago, I assumed it was fried chicken, waffles and gravy. Over time this picture was adjusted to chicken, waffles and syrup.

    Culturally I have always associated chicken and waffles with the black foodways. Earlier this year at a presentation at the Longone Symposium in Ann Arbor, it was claimed the Amish originated chicken and waffles. Frustratingly they did not allow questions, which means there was no opportunity to inquire if his research included how this dish reached the black community. It is entirely possible these may be two parallel events with one not influencing the other. I don't know.

    For a long time it was my plan to order chicken and waffles whenever the first opportunity allowed. I somehow got my brain stuck I needed to visit a restaurant where chicken and waffles were a line item on the menu. I finally loosened my grip on this purist idea.

    Last week at the Full Moon, I shared an order of waffles and half a broasted chicken, which came with choice of potato. I opted for mashed potatoes with sausage gravy usually served with biscuits and gravy.

    Image

    The best of all worlds: fried chicken, waffles, syrup, mashed potatoes and sausage gravy. I certainly liked both the classic combination chicken, waffles and syrup as well as sausage gravy, which has always seemed a fitting addition to me. I liked it all!

    Now chicken and waffles are just an order away just about anywhere I go.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #19 - October 8th, 2007, 8:42 am
    Post #19 - October 8th, 2007, 8:42 am Post #19 - October 8th, 2007, 8:42 am
    This may have been mentioned elsewhere (maybe in the RosScoe's thread?), but Lagniappe serves "Wangs and Waffles" that are definitely worth a drive.

    Lagniappe
    1525 W. 79th
    Chicago
    (773) 994-6375
  • Post #20 - October 15th, 2007, 3:53 am
    Post #20 - October 15th, 2007, 3:53 am Post #20 - October 15th, 2007, 3:53 am
    Cathy2 wrote:Culturally I have always associated chicken and waffles with the black foodways. Earlier this year at a presentation at the Longone Symposium in Ann Arbor, it was claimed the Amish originated chicken and waffles. Frustratingly they did not allow questions, which means there was no opportunity to inquire if his research included how this dish reached the black community. It is entirely possible these may be two parallel events with one not influencing the other. I don't know.

    The earliest references I've seen are in 19th-century novels.

    Martha Finley (author of the Elsie Dinsmore series), in "Wanted -- A Pedigree" (1871), Chapter V, wrote:Kezia was very busy in the kitchen frying chickens and baking waffles....
    Chapter V wrote:"Let us have our supper now...." Whereupon Mrs. Powell, bending low over her plate, said a very long grace, which Nina listened to with some impatience, thinking the waffles and chicken would be quite cold.
    Chapter XXXV wrote:"And now dry your eyes, and let us go down to breakfast; Aunt Dinah's chicken and waffles will be getting cold...."

    This is set in the Hudson River Valley, where Kezia is a white cook and Dinah a black one, so it doesn't settle the question at all. However, Finley was from Chillicothe, Ohio, and later went to live in Pennsylvania, both Amish areas. Note that chicken and waffles are served both for breakfast and for supper.

    Frank Brierwood (aka Miss Bina Pearce) in "Mabel Clifton" (1869), Chapter XIII, wrote:Mrs. Clifton thought the supper more delightful than any she had ever eaten, and the fragrant coffee, and delicate waffles and chicken would have tempted an anchorite.

    Pearce was from Lancaster, Ohio, also an Amish community.
  • Post #21 - October 15th, 2007, 7:04 am
    Post #21 - October 15th, 2007, 7:04 am Post #21 - October 15th, 2007, 7:04 am
    LAZ,

    Thanks for the information. Maybe I will go seek out that presenter to inquire more about this issue. If they had only allowed questions, then this would have been related to chicken and waffles.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #22 - October 15th, 2007, 9:48 am
    Post #22 - October 15th, 2007, 9:48 am Post #22 - October 15th, 2007, 9:48 am
    As I recall, the speaker who touched on chicken and waffles at the Longone Symposium mentioned that the combination was present in the tradition of the original Swiss German residents of Pennsylvania. Perhaps someone else can add to this. Beyond rosti, I know little of Swiss German cuisine, even though my mother descends from the Schallenberger clan, who emigrated to Lancaster County PA in the 18th century.
    Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
    T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.
  • Post #23 - October 15th, 2007, 12:13 pm
    Post #23 - October 15th, 2007, 12:13 pm Post #23 - October 15th, 2007, 12:13 pm
    I grew up in Lebanon County, Pa and I never encountered any fried-chicken and waffle combo. I vaguely remember, however, waffles served with a thick chicken stew ladled over top (no hot sauce or maple syrup).
  • Post #24 - October 15th, 2007, 12:22 pm
    Post #24 - October 15th, 2007, 12:22 pm Post #24 - October 15th, 2007, 12:22 pm
    From my experience, I do not remember any Amish communities in Lancaster, OH. (There are some Mennonite churches in that area.) The Amish is Ohio are centered in Holmes Co., about 80 miles north.

    Could you mean Lancaster Co., PA?

    Personally, I have never seen waffles and fried chicken served together in the Ohio Amish restaurants. In fact, at most of the gatherings, you are more likely to be served pancakes and sausage (with cheap syrup).

    If you are really interested in research on this topic, there is an Amish publication Die Botschaft (The Budget)where many of the Old Order Amish share news and communicate amongst themselves (and related Amish and Mennonite congregations). The publication is published weekly.

    The Budget, P.O. Box 249, Sugarcreek, OH 44681. Phone: 330-852-4634. Fax: 330-852-4421

    Amish "newspaper," Die Botschaft, by contacting 420 Weaver Rd., Millersburg, PA 17061.
  • Post #25 - October 15th, 2007, 3:09 pm
    Post #25 - October 15th, 2007, 3:09 pm Post #25 - October 15th, 2007, 3:09 pm
    jlawrence01 wrote:From my experience, I do not remember any Amish communities in Lancaster, OH. (There are some Mennonite churches in that area.) The Amish is Ohio are centered in Holmes Co., about 80 miles north.

    Could you mean Lancaster Co., PA?

    Brierwood/Pearce was definitely a native of Ohio. I had been under the impression that while Holmes Co. is the largest Amish area, there are settlements pretty well scattered throughout the state.
    Amish-Mennonite History wrote:As more and more Amish emigrated from Europe they would come to Pennsylvania and settle in these existing communities. However, because land was unavailable they continued to move westward. Direct settlements from the Berks-Lancaster-Chester area were formed in Somerset County (1767); Mifflin Co. (1793); Union County (1810); Fairfield County, Ohio (1810).
    Lancaster is in Fairfield Co.

    However, I don't personally have any knowledge of 19th-century Amish communities. The settlement may not have survived.

    Nor am I asserting that because two Ohio-born writers mentioned a dish in their novels that it was necessarily a common one either in the state or in Amish communities there.
  • Post #26 - August 23rd, 2008, 11:10 pm
    Post #26 - August 23rd, 2008, 11:10 pm Post #26 - August 23rd, 2008, 11:10 pm
    LAZ wrote:The earliest references I've seen are in 19th-century novels.

      "Martha Finley (author of the Elsie Dinsmore series), wrote in "Wanted -- A Pedigree" (1871),
        Chapter V: Kezia was very busy in the kitchen frying chickens and baking waffles....

        Chapter V: "Let us have our supper now...." Whereupon Mrs. Powell, bending low over her plate, said a very long grace, which Nina listened to with some impatience, thinking the waffles and chicken would be quite cold.

        Chapter XXXV: "And now dry your eyes, and let us go down to breakfast; Aunt Dinah's chicken and waffles will be getting cold...."

    This is set in the Hudson River Valley, where Kezia is a white cook and Dinah a black one, so it doesn't settle the question at all. However, Finley was from Chillicothe, Ohio, and later went to live in Pennsylvania, both Amish areas. Note that chicken and waffles are served both for breakfast and for supper.

      Frank Brierwood (aka Miss Bina Pearce) wrote in "Mabel Clifton" (1869), Chapter XIII:
      Mrs. Clifton thought the supper more delightful than any she had ever eaten, and the fragrant coffee, and delicate waffles and chicken would have tempted an anchorite.

    Pearce was from Lancaster, Ohio, also an Amish community.

    I don't have any new information on the origins of chicken and waffles, but various references to this dish in my reading have given me the impression that the combination was much more common in the late 19th and early 20th century than it is today.

    I've come across several references to chicken and waffles in the works of Mary Roberts Rinehart, another Pennsylvania writer. (She later lived in Washington, D.C., and New York, but not until after these books were written.)

      I've got a little farm about seven miles from the city limits, and the tenant on it says that nearly every Sunday somebody motors out from town and wants a chicken-and-waffle supper.
          --"K," 1915

      We drive to the cemetery in the afternoon ... then home to chicken and waffles, which had been Mr. Wiggins's favorite meal.
          --"Tish," 1916

      But when he went back to the office Nina was on the wire, with the news that they were to go with a party to a country inn.
        "For chicken and waffles, Les," she said. "It will be oceans of fun. And I've promised the cocktails."
          --"The Breaking Point," 1922


    Here's a reference from a Washington, D.C., writer, Temple Bailey:

      "I take off my hat to Susan Jenks," said the General -- "when her poetry expresses itself in waffles and fried chicken."
          --"Contrary Mary," 1914
  • Post #27 - April 8th, 2010, 12:14 pm
    Post #27 - April 8th, 2010, 12:14 pm Post #27 - April 8th, 2010, 12:14 pm
    Rene G wrote:Chicken and waffles, possibly introduced as a combo in the 1930s at Wells Restaurant in Harlem, were popularized by Roscoe's in Los Angeles but never really made it big in Chicago.

    As an urban African-American dish, fried chicken and waffles is often credited to Wells Supper Club in Harlem, which opened in 1938. The story gets repeated so often it has become gospel. However, Wells was not the first restaurant in Harlem known for chicken and waffles.

    In The Defender in 1933, Chappy Gardner wrote:Out of the 250 new places operated entirely by whites, Jews, Italians, French, Spanish, Greeks, one Negro from Rich. Va. caught the business angel and opened the Hollywood on Seventh Ave. between 133d and 134th Sts. His name is C. Bank. His place sports a large electric sign that must have cost in the neighborhood of $1,000. The fixings inside are artistic, beautiful, expensive and provide every comfort for eating and drinking beer in [sic] every good brew. Prices are reasonable for excellently prepared food, which run 25, 35 and 50 cents. Chicken and waffles are a favorite offering here. The service that goes along with this well regulated program beats any shown in a white place. The Hollywood, located in the very heart of Harlem, has only been open a month. It is fast becoming the meeting place for thirsty and hungry Harlemites.
  • Post #28 - April 8th, 2010, 2:47 pm
    Post #28 - April 8th, 2010, 2:47 pm Post #28 - April 8th, 2010, 2:47 pm
    I love the way they differentiate the Jews, Italians, French, Spanish and Greeks from the whites. :roll:
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #29 - April 8th, 2010, 3:29 pm
    Post #29 - April 8th, 2010, 3:29 pm Post #29 - April 8th, 2010, 3:29 pm
    As long as we're on the subject, our own David Hammond wrote a piece on fried chicken and waffles that appears in the food section of this week's Sun Times . . .

    David Hammond at the Sun Times wrote:Wells Supper Club in Harlem boasts that chicken and waffles first came together on their tables in 1938. The idea, according to local legend, was to satisfy late-night partiers who started getting hungry after dinner but before breakfast.

    Although Wells Super Club may have been the first restaurant on record to offer this hybrid dish on a menu, there’s evidence that this combo was served in homes much earlier than that.

    Fried chicken and waffles an unlikely, but oh so tasty, combo

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #30 - April 9th, 2010, 11:55 am
    Post #30 - April 9th, 2010, 11:55 am Post #30 - April 9th, 2010, 11:55 am
    I have a hazy memory of reading about--or maybe even being in, I can't be sure anymore--a chicken-and-waffle place that goes way back, in Chambersburg, PA. (The south-central part of the state.) My paternal grandmother who died in 1955 had family in Chambersburg, which might account for why I was there a long time ago. A little googling resulted in my finding that there is something called "Pennsylvania Dutch chicken and waffles," and that more than one place in this part of the state has been serving the dish for a long time. I'm guessing even before Wells Restaurant in Harlem!

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