Change ‘Chicken Kiev’ To ‘Chicken Kyiv’ In Solidarity With Ukraine: Netizens

People took to social media to demand the change of the Russian spelling of ‘Kiev’ to that of Ukraine spelling of the capital city – ‘Kyiv’. Kiev was the standardised spelling of the Ukrainian capital under Soviet rule. However, after its breakdown in 1991, the spelling was changed to ‘Kyiv’.

Most people, in the last two weeks, have adopted the use of ‘Kyiv’ rather than ‘Kiev’. And now, netizens are asking food outlets to follow suit, The Indian Express reported. “Chicken Kiev might now be the most inappropriately named dish in all the culinary world,” a user wrote.

What is the dish?

Believed to be the creation of a French chef in Russia in the 19th century, chicken kiev is chicken breast stuffed with cold herb-infused butter. It is then coated in flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before being deep-fried or baked. Many also believe that the dish has its origins in the Ukrainian capital’s Continental Hotel restaurant kitchen in the early 20th century.

Calling the demand for changing the name of the dish due to the ongoing crisis “a terrible idea”, Pushpesh Pant, noted Indian academic, food critic and historian, traced the history of this dish. He told The Indian Express, “This dish was created in Kiev as its name suggests. This dates back to the days of the Czars. Russians Czars were not supposed to be very elegant and stylish. So, their courts were Frenchified. Thus, nobody could really say who created this dish. But, it was created to please the aristocratic nobles in the courts of the Czars. It’s called Chicken a la Kiev. It commemorated the role of Kiev in the cultural, social and political life of Russia before the formation of the Soviet Union.”

Marks & Spencer said that it will not be changing the name of its products. “Marks & Spencer will always use the Kyiv spelling whenever and wherever we are talking about the Ukrainian city,” a spokesperson told The Independent.

“However, ‘chicken kiev’ has been in use for over 100 years and has been recognised by our customers since M&S brought the product to the high street in the 1970s.”