The Retro Comfort Meal Boomers Loved That Younger Generations Need To Try

Today, the Ukrainian city of Kyiv is often mentioned in news headlines largely due to the ongoing war in the region. But back in the 1960s, Americans became familiar with it (at least in name) due to a popular chicken dish that came to be called chicken Kiev. Chicken Kiev is a hearty main dish created by pounding out a chicken breast, stuffing it with compound butter, rolling it up and breading it, and then frying it.

Although chicken Kiev has a Slavic-sounding ring, it was actually created in France. It was common in the 1800s for Russian chefs to go to Paris for their culinary training, and the recipe made it back to the region in this manner. The recipe was altered from the original, which actually featured veal, as ironically, chicken was more of a delicacy in Russia at the time. The dish ultimately became known as chicken Kiev. Viacheslav Gribov, head chef at Kiev's Hotel Dnipro shared with NPR that again, funnily enough, "Chicken Kiev made Kiev famous."

Perhaps chicken Kiev became so popular in the 1960s because it capitalized on two trends that defined cooking during the time, as it was French-inspired and had an impressive sounding title. It is definitely a show-stopping dish but is easy enough to pull off and wow guests. Chicken Kiev is prepared much like another old-school chicken dish called chicken cordon bleu, but instead of stuffing the chicken with seasoned butter, it is stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese.

While chicken Kiev was all the rage in the 1960s, it likely fell out of favor because it was seen as something your parents made. Today, many versions of the dish employ a compound butter, in which butter is infused with herbs and garlic, but chef Viacheslav Gribov further explained to NPR the true version only uses butter, as it was originally served to visiting diplomats and their guests. "This began as a dish for dignitaries meeting one another. You would never serve them garlic," he said. The luxurious feel of cutting into a beautifully presented piece of chicken that is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and oozing with just enough butter, almost feels like discovering a hidden surprise, making it a moment to warrant a chicken Kiev revival.