The Hotly Debated Origins Of Fried Chicken And Waffles

When you roll out of bed and head to the kitchen for breakfast, you're immediately presented with your first decision of the day. Should you opt for a savory breakfast, featuring bacon, eggs, and perhaps some type of fried potato? Or should you go sweet, filling your plate with heaps of syrup-laden griddled goodies?

According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, our sodium and glucose taste receptors may be inextricably linked. As such, the idea that you must choose between starting your morning on a sweet or a salty note is simply not true.

Fortunately, there's a dish that will satisfy either craving. Chicken and waffles truly represent the best of both worlds, but the history of this multifaceted dish can be difficult to pin down. Per the BBC, the first American fried chicken recipe dates back to 1824, while early settlers brought waffles to America by way of Holland, via Time. However, it took a while before anyone had the bright idea to combine the two foods.

John T. Edge, the author of the book "Fried Chicken: An American Story", claimed that both the East and West coasts can claim some credit for turning chicken and waffles into an American staple dish in an interview with NPR. The 1930s saw the sweet and savory pairing being offered at the Harlem restaurant Well's Supper Club, where it may have been enjoyed by the likes of performers Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole. In the 70s, Harlem-born restaurateur Herb Hudson brought the dish across the country to Hollywood and founded the famous franchise Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

However, MyRecipes explains that chicken and waffles were likely first enjoyed considerably earlier than in the 1900s. Before delving into the early history of chicken and waffles, it's important to note that waffles were not always served as the sweet treat we understand them to be today. Often, waffles were used as a savory base for dishes, as is the case in this savory cheddar waffle BLT recipe.

NPR received a slew of angry comments after publishing an article about the Southern diet. The main focus of the vitriolic messages surrounded the organization's classification of chicken and waffles as a Southern staple. Nevertheless, many culinary history experts believe that the dish does, in fact, have longstanding ties to the region. In his interview with NPR, Edge explains that the practice of preparing a chicken for breakfast is a longstanding tradition in several rural areas, including the South. Folks in Pennsylvania Dutch territory have been serving creamed chicken with waffle-adjacent quick bread for hundreds of years.

However, the fried version of this chicken and carb pairing should be attributed in large part to African Americans in the Civil War-era South, per MyRecipes. At the time, it was commonplace for African-American vendors to sell homemade meals of fried chicken and biscuits to Virginian railway riders.

Though the dish was invented and perfected in a number of specific locations around the country, nowadays, chicken and waffles can be enjoyed all across America.