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Oooooooooo kkkkkkkkkkkk here we go again with a wee story about the humble chicken kiev and how it bacame one of my favourite things to prepare, cook and eat, with a few culinary twists and turns thrown in & some ferocious argument...Just cast your eyes on that beauty above for a few moments...delicious, mouth watering and oh so tasty (not my work sadly but i'd happily eat that plateful and ask for more)
First time i ever tasted a chicken kiev was at a great old italian restaurant mamma vittoria's in middlesbrough back in the late 70's early 80's - My mam took me and my sisters out for a special meal, must have been one of our birthdays, can't quite remember, but i do remember the warmth of the greeting as we arrived, the smells in the air you sadly don't get these days in restaurants due to air con and powerful extraction systems in kitchens...Once seated the magic started, no no listen up, its a magical experience visiting a good restaurant and when the service is spot on its an experience you'll never forget and the restaurant gets upgraded in your mind from good to great...Within seconds there was bread on the table, menus were presented to us and wine glasses placed carefully on the table...Mam ordered us minestrone soup then to follow 3 chicken kievs and her favourite steak pizziola cooked medium well and she insisted they added a little extra olive oil (their best olive oil) drizzled over the sauce smothered steak...Few moments passed and a waiter was serving us all wine from a most unusual looking bottle (chianti) i'm sure you all know what i mean by unusual, our wine was topped up with lemonade while mam obviously had it as it came...few more minutes and the most amazing minestrone soup topped with fresh parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper was being gulped down by 3 young uns who you'd think had been starved for a week, my mam on the other hand was savouring every spoonful..Soup all gone and bread scoffed, we awaited the treat mam said we'd love....Minutes ticked by and we sat obediently as mam told us stories of her times working in sunderland in nottrianis, meeting the beatles & playing leap frog with them on roker beach and meeting other pop stars and theatrical icons from the 60's there and at a posh hotel she worked in, in or near a park in the city centre (mowbray park i think) i say city centre but back then it was a town, massive town but still a town..The CHICKEN KIEVS appeared, the waiter had three plates on one hand, one in the other..we were amazed..it was magic, it truly was.
Food in front of us we just sat there waiting, admiring the chicken in breadcrumbs on a bed of rice surrounded by fresh carrots, courgettes, mange tout and cauliflower cheese and two spectacular walnut whip looking things i now know as duchess potatoes...mam gave us the nod and we got stuck in, my youngest sister Anthea was first to cut into the chicken.............it ooooooozed garlic butter like a volcano throwing out molten lava..more magic..Me & Paula tucked into ours and mam sat and quietly savoured her every mouthful..the whole plateful was and to my mind still is one of the best meals i've ever eaten & being a chef or should i say ex-chef i've tasted cooked sampled and eaten some amazing things over the years....Anyway meal complete we had the most amazing cassata with slices of orange in grand marnier...we left with full bellies, smiles like cheshire cats & a memory to last a lifetime.
ZOOM FORWARD a good few years and i'm working in cobbles wine bar with my old mate Funky Nige (Nigel Dring) and the manager happens to be the waiter who served us that fantastic meal at mamma vittoria's all those years ago...A true gentleman is Gianni Addis (the manager) and he taught myself and nigel so much along with the head chef colin..Anyway, his family had sold mamma vittoria's and the family had spread its wings into catering establishments all over the north east - One day Gianni asked me to go up to jesmond, newcastle with him as his brothers were opening a new restaurant Da Vinci's in what can only be described as a posh area of the city..A bit nervous but excited i agreed...best decision i'd made so far on my catering journey..My eyes had never seen pure class before, marble walls, pillars, marble tables and marble floor...i was gobsmacked...First thing was to eat, we all sat together eating a huge plate of pasta and washed down with a couple of glasses of red wine...i felt as if i'd been adopted by the family and the warmth and dare i say it love they showed to me was a nice feeling...So nicely fed and relaxed we set to prepping and putting together the most amazing feast for the v.i.p guests due that evening under the guidance of head chef Paulo, one of gianni's elder brothers..i saw food i'd never seen before but was keen to learn, see and get stuck in......First orders hit the kitchen and my job was to call out the orders and make sure every plateful served was correctly presented and garnished..quite a responsibility for a young chef...everything went so smoothly, everyone was happy and each member of the family shook my hand and thanked me....i think i became a proppa chef that night & my confidence soared thanks to the approval of some very strict but fair masters, i was paid the handsome sum of £15 for around 10 hours work and given a panettone for my mam...I was asked back to help from time to time and loved every minute serving top class food to top class people - sadly a few family disputes - no sorry all out war Sardinian style and it all became a nice memory as i moved onwards and upwards to my next kitchen with Paulo's the secret of best chicken kiev in my head.
ZOOMING ALONG and i'm in great yarmouth working with an awesome italian chef Pietro on king street at the restaurant formerly known as piggies (serving traditional italian food).don't ask why it was called that, it baffled me Pietro and all who worked there...Some of the best times on my catering journey were spent there, i think all in all i spent the best part of two years working there helping to build a great reputation for the restaurant with good honest food and graft all served up with passion, We had a very fair boss who when he was there appreciated our efforts & long with Pietro i still consider them both as friends to this day & would do anything for them at the drop of a hat..
Anyway back to the chicken kiev saga, one night at the above restaurant a local gobshite chef came for a meal and tried to tell me and Pietro we knew nothing because we couldn't cook a propper chicken kiev (it wasn't on the menu) and we refused to cook it for him as he was drunk and making a propper tit of himself..that silly man don't know how close he came to two chefs battering him to a pulp & i'm pretty sure had the boss been there that night he'd have been very badly hurt...lucky man this time but lady fate was waiting to hang him.
ZOOMING ALONG AGAIN i'm sat in othello's restaurant on yarmouth seafront having just had a delicious meal and i'm chatting away to Jumbo (THE BOSS) (may god bless his soul - rest in peace jumbo you'll never be forgotten - maximum respect)...Anyway out comes the said gobshite chef, looks at me and Pietro and asks if we want a drink and if we enjoyed our meal..being true gentlemen we thanked him and accepted...started chatting food and stuff as chefs do...........Then the BOMBSHELL came.............Silly man only decided to bring up the chicken kiev incident.....we tried to play it down but gobshite kept niggling and it was getting silly....anyway i asked him straight out how he'd prepare and serve a chicken bastard kiev..he said chicken breast, wing bone removed, bashed out and filled with garlic and parsley butter, breadcrumbed and deep fried....Quick as a flash Jumbo said that way was wrong and not the correct way, i butted in and said how i was taught by Paulo in Newcastle, the self same way served up to me in mamma vittoria's all those years befor...jumbo agreed with what i said and said along with Pietro i was spot on and they had both done it the same way in restaurants in london..THE SECRET is foie gras puree in the butter garlic olive oil and parsley filling with a very small amount of fresh oregano crumbed and fried (so now you know what thousands don't) So at that gobshite chef got angry, slammed down his drink and cleared off muttering and not happy he'd been out smarted..years have since passed and i've seen him many times in yarmouth but he wont talk to me...always looks the other way and i'm sure his heart must sink cos he truly thought he was the king of chefs in yarmouth...Give it a go sometime, do it like i say above or you could use a little brussels pate in the mix...please dont serve the shite pictured below...cos if thats chicken kiev i'm a monkeys uncle.
LONG LIVE THE CHICKEN KIEV
