Food Fact Friday: Chicken Cordon Bleu

September is National Chicken Month...woohoo! Seriously though, I do eat a lot of chicken. Probably 80% of all the protein I eat (As you can see by all the chicken recipes). It's very versatile and relatively inexpensive. I was thinking about all of the yummy ways to eat it, and Chicken Cordon Bleu kept popping in my head. I mean, what's better than stuffing cheese and meat into more meat then frying it?! Below is what I could find about this delicious dish. For a really good recipe, Click here.

First for the term, "Cordon Bleu". This was originally a wide blue ribbon worn by members of the highest order of knighthood in France. By extension, the term has since been applied to food prepared to a very high standard and to outstanding cooks. The analogy was from the similarity between the sash worn by the knights and the ribbons (which at the time, were almost always blue) of a cook's apron.

The first known dish with "Cordon Bleu" in the name is Veal Cordon Bleu, a Swiss dish in which veal is wrapped in ham and Gruyere and fried. Food historians believe that Americans adapted this recipe to include chicken instead of veal, and substituted Swiss cheese for Gruyere. The term "Chicken Cordon Bleu" first appeared in airline ads in the 60's, when they were focusing on the elegance and luxury of flying.

Chicken Cities Tidbit: There are four places in the United States with the word "chicken" in their name: Chicken, Alaska; Chicken Bristle in Illinois and Kentucky; and Chicken Town, Pennsylvania.