What is la la chicken?

Answer 1

The most likely account is that Chicken à la King was created in the 1890s by hotel cook William "Bill" King of the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. Several obituaries in early March 1915 credited King after he died on March 4, 1915.[4][5] A New York Tribune editorial at the time of King's death stated:

The name of William King is not listed among the great ones of the earth. No monuments will ever be erected to his memory, for he was only a cook. Yet what a cook! In him blazed the fire of genius which, at the white heat of inspiration, drove him one day, in the old Bellevue, in Philadelphia, to combine bits of chicken, mushrooms, truffles, red and green peppers and cream in that delight-some mixture which ever after has been known as "Chicken a la King." [6]

The recipe was mentioned in the New York Times in 1893,[7] and early published recipes appeared in 1900[8] and 1905.[9] Fannie Merritt Farmer included a recipe in her 1911 publication on catering.[10] The Fannie Farmer Cookbookincludes a recipe for Chicken à la King in the 1996 update.[11] It became a popular dish during the middle to late 20th century.