Description. Chicken and waffles, as a combined recipe, first appeared in the United States' colonial period in the 1600s in Pennsylvania Dutch country. The traditional Pennsylvania Dutch version consists of a plain waffle with pulled, stewed chicken on top, covered in gravy.

Pennsylvania Chicken & Waffles In Pennsylvania Some historians actually place the invention of chicken and waffles as far back as the 1700s, although on a technicality. In the Pennsylvania territory, there were many dishes that involved chicken and hot cakes or similar grains.

The chicken and waffles we know today used to be a hot commodity back in the 1930s, just like the creator, Dickie Wells. Richard “Dickie” Wells, born in 1908, was a self-taught tap dancer in Harlem, NY. As part of the tap dance trio, Wells, Mordecai, and Taylor, Wells rose to fame at the famous Cotton Club.

This indulgent combo is well known in the American South today, but it has roots in Pennsylvania Dutch country, where waffles were sometimes topped with pulled chicken, and in Harlem, where a supper club created the breakfast-dinner mashup for musicians who would arrive too late for dinner and too early for breakfast.

Like many of Western civilization's finest achievements, the long and delicious history of waffles can be traced to ancient Greece, where Athenians cooked flat cakes called obelios between two metal plates. The word waffle is related to wafer, as in the Communion wafers that were a staple of early Christian fasts.

In Ancient Greece, and later during the Middle Ages, many variations of these cakes were made, which were called obleios (wafers). The first known “waffle” recipe was made in the late 14th century, but is was a waffle in name only, as it did not include a leavening agent.

Dutch wafelers first began applying rectangular instead of circular plates. It was the forerunner of the modern waffle's design. For the word, we know today, waffles are credited to the English who in the early 18th century added a second “f”. Throughout Europe, nations evolved their waffle recipes and tastes.

A quick Internet search yields the following “intel” on chicken & waffles: The dish originated in Jazz Age Harlem, in after-hours clubs where bleary-eyed jazz revelers would satisfy their hunger during the hours when it was way past dinnertime and too early for breakfast.

ancient Greece The history and origin of waffles can be traced back to ancient Greece. But the history of their origin goes even further into history, in the Neolithic, or Stone Age over four thousand years ago.

The word waffle first appears in the English language in 1725: "Waffles. Take flower, cream..." It is directly derived from the Dutch wafel, which itself derives from the Middle Dutch wafele.

Medieval origins In ancient times the Greeks cooked flat cakes, called obelios, between hot metal plates. As they were spread throughout medieval Europe, the cake mix, a mixture of flour, water or milk, and often eggs, became known as wafers and were also cooked over an open fire between iron plates with long handles.

1 Waffles have been eaten since the 14th century. 2 Nike's first pair of sneakers, Waffle Trainers, were made using a real waffle iron. 3 “Waffle” descends from the Dutch word for “wafer.” 4 The world's biggest waffle was 8 feet long and weighed 110 pounds.

Maximilien Consael, another Ghent chef, had claimed to have invented the waffles in 1839, though there's no written record of him either naming or selling the waffles until his participation in the 1856 Brussels Fair.

1 Waffles have been eaten since the 14th century. 2 Nike's first pair of sneakers, Waffle Trainers, were made using a real waffle iron. 3 “Waffle” descends from the Dutch word for “wafer.” 4 The world's biggest waffle was 8 feet long and weighed 110 pounds.