Sunday Brunchies and Crunchies: A Real Southern Delight

7 October 2012

I think I am eternally in love with Brunch. It's a great way to have breakfast when you woke up too late and you still want it, it's a great way to excuse yourself to have breakfast again when its already lunchtime, heck it's part of the name of this blog! I love Brunch! Down in the Southland of the United States, a traditional dish serves as a Brunch staple: Chicken and Waffles.

We here at Sunday Brunch have had waffles at the Wave, Trail's End, and Sleepy Hollow, and today we return to Trail's End at Fort Wilderness for some authentic, classic Chicken and Waffles. If you've had Sleepy Hollow's delicious Spicy Chicken and Waffles sandwich, just wait until you try the incredible Chicken and Waffles at Trail's End. Available only on their lunch menu (served 11:30 am ' 2:00 pm), the Trail's End version of Chicken and Waffles certainly satisfies hungry appetites and is probably the best Chicken and Waffles I've ever had.

Nobody really knows exactly where the dish originates, though some say it arrived when the waffle itself came to America. Though already brought over by the Dutch to New York City for decades, the waffle really took off in the late 1790s. Thomas Jefferson arrived to his home Monticello in Virginia from a 5 year visit to France with the best souvenir to serve America: the waffle iron. Fried Chicken was already a popular food in the states, especially in the South. As with any meal, the protein is traditionally eaten with a bread, so once the waffle started to become a fad, it was chosen one day as the bread for the day's meal. Soon after that, cookbooks had recipes for Chicken and Waffles, what today could be considered colonial Fusion Cuisine. To this day, the dish is one of the most popular products of the South and found in restaurants and diners all over the country.

Though there are no pictoral records of Thomas Jefferson eating a waffle, here is another president enjoying our 3^rd President's souvenir

At Trail's End, the chicken and waffles are simply the best. There are no reheated frozen pieces of chicken here. Prepared freshly battered and fried, the chicken is crisped golden, providing that hot and tasty satisfying crunch. The waffles also made fresh come fluffy, crisp, slightly sweet. The complete dish is sure to satisfy and stuff, with four waffle wedges, two chicken breasts, a well of hot syrup, and a scoop of creamy Rosemary infused butter. By themselves the waffles and chicken are just great, but adding the new dimension of herbs and the sweetness of maple syrup make the dish divine. It's hard not to fall in love with this charming dish, where every bite is filled with the freshness of Southern hospitality.