Fried chicken and waffles is a soul food dish that has long been associated with African American culture and cuisine in the United States. However, the origins and history of this dish are more complex than simply being a “black thing.” In this article, we’ll explore the roots of fried chicken and waffles, its connections to African American culture, and whether this popular dish can be claimed by any one group.
What are the origins of fried chicken and waffles?
There are several theories about how and when this dish was created:
- Some sources trace it back to the southern United States during slavery times in the 1800s, when chicken and waffles were served separately as part of Sunday dinner or as leftovers combined the next morning.
- It may have roots in European and Scotch-Irish immigrant cooking traditions, which commonly paired chicken and bread dishes.
- The combination meal may have originated later, in the early 20th century, at restaurants owned by African Americans in the North and along the East Coast that served Southern-style comfort food.
- In the 1930s-40s, Harlem’s famous Wells Supper Club and other jazz clubs served the dish.
- The most enduring origin story credits Joe Wells, the owner of Harlem’s Wells Supper Club, with inventing the dish in 1938. But historical references to chicken and waffles predate that on both American coasts.
In summary, the exact beginnings are unclear, but recipes for chicken and waffles emerged out of traditions of African American, European immigrant, and southern comfort cooking between the 19th and early 20th centuries. The dish became especially associated with African American soul food restaurants and Pennsylvania Dutch and Maryland cooking traditions once it reached big cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, Harlem, and Washington D.C.
Why is fried chicken and waffles considered African American “soul food”?
Despite its somewhat uncertain origins, fried chicken and waffles became linked to African American culture and soul food for several reasons:
- It was commonly served in black-owned soul food restaurants and jazz clubs starting in the 1930s.
- Soul food establishments popularized the dish and claimed it as part of African American culinary heritage.
- The crispy, fried chicken offered a tasty contrast to the sweet vanilla flavor of waffles.
- It celebrates traditional African American cooking methods and creativity during challenging times.
- Chicken and waffles as a combination meal was uncommon in European American cooking, giving the dish a distinct African American identity.
In a time of segregation and discrimination, fried chicken and waffles came to represent ingenuity and pride in African American cooking. The dish celebrated soul food flavors and African American cultural restaurants. As it gained fame during the Great Migration, Harlem Renaissance, and civil rights era, the dish took on greater meaning as part of black heritage and identity.
How did fried chicken and waffles spread beyond African American communities?
Even as fried chicken and waffles solidified its connection to African American soul food eateries, the dish gradually expanded beyond those communities as well:
- The chicken and waffles combination gained greater popularity nationwide as a specialty meal after the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964.
- Well-known jazz musicians touring the country, like Count Basie, helped promote the dish.
- In 1969, the Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles restaurant opened in Los Angeles, introducing the dish to the West Coast.
- In the 1970s-80s, chain restaurants like TGI Friday’s and Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles franchises brought the dish to mainstream America.
- TV shows and movies in the 1990s and 2000s further popularized chicken and waffles, often portraying it as part of African American culture.
- The internet allowed recipes to spread virally, and YouTube cooking channels celebrated the soul food dish.
While still retaining its soul food identity, fried chicken and waffles broke into the wider American mainstream over the latter 20th century through businesses, media, and online sharing. It remains a staple offering at many soul food eateries though.
Does any culture “own” fried chicken and waffles?
The origins of fried chicken and waffles make clear that many cultures likely contributed recipes and cooking traditions that led to today’s beloved dish. Southern culinary traditions, African American soul food innovations, and a melding of European immigrant and African cooking methods all shaped the creation of chicken and waffles.
However, it’s understandable how the dish became so closely tied to African American identity given its popularity at black-owned businesses and its celebration as a soul food specialty during the Jim Crow era when black culture was often belittled or appropriated. The ingenuity to transform leftovers into a hearty, tasty meal was a source of dignity and pride.
At the same time, no group can lay definitive claim to “owning” a recipe or dish. Food culture evolves through sharing ideas and ingredients across different communities. Soul food establishments kept the dish alive, but presuming it belongs solely to black Americans erases the complex mingling of cooking traditions behind fried chicken and waffles.
How do modern chefs and restaurants approach fried chicken and waffles?
Today, fried chicken and waffles appears on all types of restaurant menus from upscale eateries to diners to fast food chains. Establishments approach the dish in different ways:
- Soul food restaurants – Honor the dish’s African American roots and traditions, often using original recipes and cooking methods.
- Modern chefs – Put creative spins on the classic, making elevated versions with new ingredients and fusions.
- Mainstream chains – Mass produce convenient, affordable versions to make chicken and waffles widely accessible.
- Celebrity chefs – Add flair with twists like adding syrups, hot sauce, or upscale ingredients while respecting traditions.
Diners can now find upscale chicken and waffle appetizers as well as down home, hearty soul food platters. However, many still believe the original African American eateries serve the most authentic, time-perfected versions.
Does the popularity of fried chicken and waffles raise any issues?
The widespread popularity of fried chicken and waffles can raise some complex issues around cultural appropriation, stereotypes, and commercialization:
- Some feel that mainstream and fast food chains have co-opted and diluted the dish’s cultural significance for African Americans.
- Featured in many movies and ads, it risks portraying a narrow view of black culture and food.
- Fried chicken in particular carries offensive racial stereotypes that remain painful for the black community.
- On the other hand, others see the dish’s growth as a positive acknowledgement and celebration of African American culinary contributions.
There are no easy answers here. The fame of dishes like fried chicken and waffles is a credit to the skill and creativity of black chefs and cooks. But care and dialogue are needed to prevent cultural appropriation and ensure soul food’s complex history is respected, not caricatured. Done right, the sharing of food across cultures can bring people together.
Conclusion
While the precise origins of fried chicken and waffles are unknown, the dish as we recognize it today emerged from a mingling of African American, Southern, and immigrant cooking traditions in the early 20th century. African American chefs and soul food restaurants celebrated the meal as part of black heritage and turned it into a beloved specialty during a challenging time of segregation and discrimination.
The dish gradually entered American mainstream culture through businesses, media, and online sharing, while still retaining a distinct identity in soul food eateries. No single group can definitively claim fried chicken and waffles, but its ties to African American identity and experience remain strong. As one of America’s cherished comfort foods, it’s a recipe worth honoring for its delicious flavors and its long, intertwined cultural history.