Chicken Kiev's little-known origin

In the great American film comedy, A Fish Called Wanda, Archie Leech (John Cleese) seduces Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) by rattling off foreign words. When Wanda asks Archie if he knows any Russian, he offers, in a thick Slavic accent: “Gorbachev, perestroika, Chicken Kiev,” and Wanda melts …Ironically, Cleese got it right. Despite its name, Chicken Kiev (actually, Kotlety po-Kievsky), is a Russian, not Ukrainian, invention. 

According to the culinary historian William Pokhlyobkin, this famous dish was created in 1912 to satisfy the wealthy and jaded palates of members of St. Petersburg’s Club of Russian Merchants. The Club was known as “çÓ‚ÓÏËı‡ÈÎÓ‚ÒÍË ÍÓÚÎÂÚ˚”, in honor of Mikhailovsky Castle (see Russian Life, May/June 2001), which was located near the Club. 

As with much pre-Revolutionary cuisine, the recipe was “misplaced” after WWI and the October Revolution. But apparently it was rediscovered in 1947 and prepared for a narrow circle of Ukrainian diplomats. This time, the ÍÓÚÎÂÚ˚ were fried on Kiev’s Kreshchatik street, under their new name: ÍÓÚÎeÚ˚ ÔÓ-äË‚ÒÍË. Within ten years, Kotlety po-Kievsky had become standard fare at Intourist restaurants catering to foreign visitors, which helped the dish gain wide renown, despite the inherent hazard of eating it:  the hot butter sealed inside the cutlets can easily squirt out and spatter the diner’s clothes. (The secret is to pierce the kotleta gently with a fork, so that the butter flows out slowly, but of course this warning was not often voiced by surly Soviet waiters.)

By the 1970s, Chicken Kiev had become commonplace in Russia and could be purchased ready-to-cook at different food outlets. For our presentation of this old standby, we turned to Moscow’s Ukraine restaurant (in the hotel of the same name), but for the sake of history, we kept the older name.

Chicken Mikhailovsky

INGREDIENTS (per serving)

One-half boneless, skinless chicken breast

Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste 

Pinch of cayenne 

2 teaspoons grated onion 

1 small garlic clove, crushed 

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley and dill 

1 tablespoon butter, shaped into a rectangle and well-chilled 

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon flour (rice flour, if available)

3-4 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Gently pound the breast until quite thin, being careful not to tear the meat. Season it with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.  Sprinkle with the grated onion, garlic, parsley, and dill.  Place the butter lengthwise along the breast.  Tuck the short edges of the breast over the butter, then roll up the breast from the short side to seal the butter within. 

Carefully dip the rolled breast in the cream, then dredge in the flour and bread crumbs.  Chill for 1 hour.

Preheat 3 inches of vegetable oil to 360o F.  Fry the cutlet in the hot oil until crisp and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.  It may also be fried in 1 to 2 inches of oil in a skillet.  Turn the cutlet until it is cooked through and golden on all sides. 

This dish is best served with fried potatoes, but mashed potatoes will also do, as they taste even better with the melted butter that spills out of the kotleta.

Recipe: Ukraine restaurant