Origin of Chicken ala King

Factual Questions
1

I’ve read two different origins of the dish “Chicken ala King”.

  1. It was named after a king who liked the dish.
  2. It was invented for and named after a millionare named Keene and the name has gotten changed over the years.
    Does anybody know the straight dope?
2

According to James Beard, in his “American Cookery,” the term originated around the turn of the century and was an American invention. I will try to find more if I can. But I’ll bet the basic info is correct.

3

I believe the original chicken was raised in Don King’s hair.

4

A la King is a nice page that gives an origin. I don’t have an opinion on whether it is true. This done with a 10 second Google search.

5

MMM…buffalo kings…

6

I was very surprised to learn from the above that chicken a la King is only about 100 years old. I wonder if it could be a new name for an old dish. I distinctly remember reading that it was George Washington’s favorite dish, but that was in a children’s book, not a scholarly tract. I wonder if that book didn’t mean poulet chasseur, which might not be as familiar to children. The dish is very similar to chicken a la king. I have no clue how old poulet chasseur is, but I suspect it goes back much more than 100 years.

7

Actually, there are several theories suggesting that “Chicken a la King” was actually created for a Mr. Keene, and was then corrupted. Take a look here for a discussion.