Chicken Kiev with potato mash

A restaurant and bakery on the right bank of the Vltava

The U Kalendů pub has occupied the site of the former settlement of Podskalí since the turn of the century. Today, they serve food without pizzaz and carefully treated beer, blurring the line between bakery and restaurant. Chefs make use of yesterday's bread, and the bakers experiment with unexpected ingredients – pick up a crusty loaf or something swet from the bakery, or sample fried kvass in the restaurant.

While some know Chicken Kiev as a meat pocket stuffed with herb butter and then deep-fried in breadcrumbs, the chefs atU Kalendů serve the butter and herbs as the crown of the meal, right on the schnitzel.

Chicken Kiev

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 whole chicken, boneless; or 2 breasts and 2 thighs
• 2 eggs
• 200 g breadcrumbs
• 50 g flour
• salt
• lard for frying

1. The day before, marinate the chicken in 5% salt liquor and leave to rest overnight in the fridge.
   
   Tip: While the breast needs to rest in the salt liquor for 4 hours, sous chef Ondra Landa recommends thighs to be left to rest overnight.
2. The next day, pat the chicken dry with a napkin and coat in breadcrumbs. How to make the perfect coating? We've written it down for you in this article.
   
   Breadcrumbs for the coating: While U Kalendů make these from their own toasted bread, fresh rolls, toasted and ground, or bought panko breadcrumbs, will do for you.
3. In a pot or pan heat the lard (ideally at 180°) and fry the chicken on both sides until golden brown, for about 5 minutes. If you are preparing the thighs, bake them in a preheated oven at 175 °C for 15 minutes.

Mashed potatoes

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 800 g potatoes type C (U Kalendů use the Agria variety)
• 200 ml 33% cream
• 80 g butter
• salt to taste

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them up and bring to the boil in a pot of salted water. Timings depend on the size. A larger potato cut into quarters is cooked to tender in about 25 minutes.
2. Strain or mash the cooked potatoes. Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter in a saucepan.
3. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and stir in with a whisk. Whisk the mash lightly, and you can serve.

Herb butter for chicken Kiev

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 100 g butter
• Mixed herbs: parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 clove of garlic
• lemon zest for seasoning

1. While your butter is softening at room temperature, chop the herbs finely. Then mix them with the butter.
2. Add the salt, pepper, puréed garlic and lemon zest. Leave in the fridge to set.
3. Serve a spoonful of herb butter on the just-fried chicken. The butter will melt beautifully on the meat.

Tip: You can easily freeze the leftover herb butter. Just wrap it in cling film or cut it into an ice cube tray. And then what to do with it? It also tastes great on toasted bread or just-cooked, still hot potatoes.

Classic summer salad dressing

If you want to prepare chicken Kiev exactly as they do at U Kalendů, serve it with lettuce dressed with traditional sweet and sour dressing. How to make it? Mix a little cold-pressed sunflower oil with apple cider vinegar, water and a pinch of sugar and salt. The ratio is to your own taste.

A little history

Chicken Kiev, also known as Kiev cutlet, originated in the early 20th century at the Continental Hotel in Kiev whose chef at the time adapted the original French recipe for côtelette de volaille. Back then, the battered chicken steak was stuffed with herb butter like a roll and then wrapped in breadcrumbs. This is how many of us know it to this day.

But that's only when chicken Kiev is pronounced in English. Part of the world will recall the events of August 1991, when US President George Bush gave a speech to the Ukrainian parliament warning Ukraine against leaving the Soviet Union. And because "chicken" is a colloquial term for coward, a reporter for The New York Times referred to the then U.S. president's speech as the Chicken Kiev speech. Six months later, the Ukrainian parliament approved the declaration of independence.

A year before that, however, chicken Kiev had been served at the Russian embassy in Washington, where the then leader of the Soviet Union came to visit Mikhail Gorbachev. He was resigned to the fact that the dissolution of the union was around the corner, and according to a participant in the dinner, former foreign minister Henry Kissinger ordered chicken Kiev to be served as a symbol of the end and a new beginning.

If we go back back more than a decade Kiev Chicken became very popular in British supermarket chains, where it was then the new hit frozen food. The "Ukrainian" specialty was also celebrated by feminists, who proclaimed that frozen food, and specifically fried chicken with herb butter, had liberated British women from the stove.

Sources: Ambiente chefs, Seznam Zpravy