Some popular and quirky food combinations just don’t seem right when you first think about them. On that list for me has been fried chicken and waffles.
Every time I see it on a menu I wonder: Why on earth would you pair savoury, juicy chicken, something you might serve for dinner with coleslaw, with an item often bathed in syrup and butter and served for breakfast?
Fried chicken is also associated with the Southern U.S., waffles a European thing, so how did they end up on the same plate?
Someone obviously thought it was a good idea, it caught on, and now all around North America diners, food trucks, chain restaurants and even some fine dining establishments are serving up fried chicken and waffles.
When and where this combination was first tried is not clear, but a few facts help explain how they came together.
In the 1790s, it’s said that Thomas Jefferson purchased a waffle iron from France. That step by the third U.S. president led other folks to try waffles on this side of the pond. They eventually became popular and began appearing in cookbooks.
In rural areas in the 1800s, it wasn’t uncommon early Sunday morning for a farm woman to kill a chicken, coat and season it, and fry it for breakfast. To round out the meal, it was served with some form of quick bread, such as flapjacks (pancakes).
For African Americans living in the South at that time, their meals were often based on the scraps left behind by the landowners they toiled for. Chicken was meat they rarely had and therefore considered a delicacy. They also thought the same thing about waffles, which seemed — and were — more exotic than the familiar flapjacks.
According to a 1997 article in the Los Angeles Business Journal titled, Serving up chicken and waffles, that caused this combination for decades to become a special-occasion meal for African American families. Something they might serve and enjoy as a hearty Sunday morning meal before a long day in church.
When African Americans migrated from the south to north after the Civil War, the dish came with them and was eventually served in restaurants. For example, in the late 1930s, chicken and waffles was served in Harlem, at places such as Dickie Wells jazz nightclub, a haunt for celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole.
In the 1970s, Harlem native Herb Hudson brought fried chicken and waffles to Los Angeles when he opened up Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, which now has multiple locations. As noted above, it’s now also on the menu at eateries all around North America.
Knowing some the history of the dish, the combination now makes sense to me. Fried chicken tastes great with all kinds of quick breads, such as biscuits, so why not waffles? The waffles, and the chicken, both taste delicious drizzled with maple syrup. The hot sauce also often sprinkled on the chicken kicks everything up several notches.
If you want to try the combination, now more frequently enjoyed for dinner, see the recipes on page B3. The waffle batter is easy to make and cooks in just minutes. With regard to the chicken, rather than completely cooking it in the oil on the stovetop, I’ve offered a technique where it’s cooked a short while in the oil to set the coating, and then finished in the oven. This method allows you to prepare a 12-piece batch of chicken without having to fire up multiple skillets on your stovetop to cook them.
Note: When doing my research on this story I discovered another long-popular form of chicken and waffles that’s an Amish/Pennsylvania Dutch specialty. Rather than fried chicken, in this version roast and sliced chicken is piled on a waffle and topped with cream gravy. The waffles are an alternative to dumplings or mashed potatoes the chicken might have been served with.
Eric Akis is the author of Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
Waffles
The waffle iron I used for this recipe was a four-slot one that makes about 1-inch thick, 4- x 4-inch waffles. You can, of course, use any waffle iron to make them but, depending on it's size, you may end up with more or less waffles then noted in the recipe, and/or have to cook them in more than two batches.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: About 3 minutes per batch of waffles
Makes: 8 (4-x-4-inch) waffles
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Vegetable oil spray
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Place the eggs, milk and vanilla in a second bowl and beat to combine. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined (do not over-mix or the waffles will be tough).
Preheat the oven to 200 F. Preheat your waffle iron. (My waffle iron has a setting range of one to five, and I had it set at three and half.)
When the waffle iron is hot, spray the cooking surface with vegetable spray. Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter into each waffle slot, spreading the batter so it reaches to the corners. Close the iron and cook the waffles about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Set the cooked waffles on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven until the rest are cooked. Serve waffles with the chicken as noted below.
Fried and Baked Chicken
To cook 12 pieces of chicken without them absorbing too much oil, in this recipe it's quickly fried in batches until the coating is set, and then cooked through in the oven.
I've used my preferred blend of spices and herbs to flavour the flour mixture that coats the chicken, but you could certainly use a mix of items that appeals best to you, or that you have on hand.
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus marinating time
Cooking time: About 40 minutes
Makes: 4 to 6 (2 to 3 piece) servings
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp ground savoury
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco, Chohula or Frank's Red Hot, plus more for drizzling
6 chicken drumsticks
6 chicken thighs
* peanut, corn or vegetable oil for frying
* maple syrup, to taste
* butter (optional)
Make flour coating mixture by combining the first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Cover and set aside until needed.
Combine the buttermilk, egg and hot sauce in a second bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover, refrigerate and marinate the chicken, turning occasionally, for 4 to 8 hours, or, if time allows, overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove chicken from the refrigerator and uncover. Uncover the flour mixture.
Remove a piece of the chicken from the buttermilk mixture, let the excess drip away, and then set in the flour mixture. Dredge and coat the chicken in the flour mixture. Set chicken on the baking sheet. Coat the remaining pieces of chicken in this manner, ensuring they do not touch when set on the baking sheet. Let chicken sit 15 minutes to allow the flour mixture to set.
Set a baking rack over a second parchment paper-lined baking sheet and set aside. Heat the oil in your deep fryer until it reaches 350 F. Adjust the heat to maintain the temperature. Carefully slip in three pieces of the chicken into the oil. Fry 90 seconds to two minutes, or until the chicken is very light golden in colour and the flour coating has set. (The chicken will finish cooking and browning in the oven, so you don't want to deeply brown it at this point.) Remove chicken from the oil, let the excess drip away, and then set on the baking rack above the pan. Fry the remaining pieces of chicken in this fashion, cooking them in three-piece batches and setting them on the baking rack as you go along.
One all fried, bake the chicken in a 375 F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cooked through.
To serve, set 1 or 2 waffles on each of 4 plates. Serve each waffle with 2 or 3 pieces of chicken. Serve with hot sauce and maple syrup for drizzling. If desired, also serve with butter, for spreading on the waffles.
Any leftover chicken and waffles will taste great the next day, served together again or separately.