The Making Of Chicken Ala King And The Making Of Us

When I was a boy growing up in Asia, my favorite dish was chicken ala king. [1]  It was a dish with cubes of chicken breast cooked a white sauce from mixing roux and milk together with some Bird's Eye classic mixed vegetables thrown in served over white rice.  Then came a trip to Paris, France.  I was wandering around the city when I came across a small restaurant run by two chefs with just a few tables. [2]  On the menu board I saw Chicken ala King, maybe it was Poulet ala King.  I do not recall exactly since that was many, many years ago.  Anyway, it was an item on the menu and I ordered it for lunch.  Perhaps it was what I wanted or perhaps I did not understand what else was offered since I did not, and still do not, know French except for maybe a few words.

When the plate of food was served, all I saw was white.  White cubes of meat, white cream sauce and white rice on a white plate.  It did not have any Bird's Eye classic mixed vegetables from the freezer thrown in.  I had no idea what to think of it.  Looking at it, thinking that I had ordered the wrong thing, that it was going to be bland, as bland as the monochrome color that was on my table, I did not know quite what to do next.  Then I remembered that I was hungry.  I dug in with my fork and took my first bite.

My taste buds went wild.  It was one of the most well-prepared dishes I had ever tasted.  Every cube of chicken was tender; every grain of rice was soft, not starchy or lumpy, and the sauce was a wine sauce with a noticeable presence of white wine, deliciously conspicuous but not overpowering.  The entree was well-seasoned.  It was simply magnifique!

The next time I went to Paris, the area had gone through quite a bit of change.  The restaurant that served the poulet ala king was no longer there, and the new food establishments did not have the dish on their menu.  Like many things that I experienced only once in my life, this poulet ala king dish is among those that are imbedded in my mind.

After all these years, the dish remains unforgettable and I am still desirous of it.  Without a restaurant that serves it, I have to cook it myself.  And I have, many, many times.  Not once have I come close to achieving what I had tasted, much in the same way that I have tried to be saintly many, many times, but not once have I even come close.  It is not enough to make a basic roux, put in milk or cream and white wine, add some chicken cubes and some salt, then cook it and pour it over ordinary white rice and call it a perfectly cooked chicken ala king dish just as it is not enough to be kind and respectful to others and consider oneself saintly.

I think that to cook chicken ala king perfectly, one has to start with the right fundamental ingredients, such as the right kind of fat or butter and the correct proportion of fat and flour to make the roux, the right mix of milk and cream or crème fraîche to add to the roux, the right kind chicken meat from the right age of the chicken raised on the right farm given the right feed, the right varietal of rice from 40,000 varieties [3] picked from the right rice field, and the right white wine and how much of it to use, and cooking all these ingredients together in the right order, for the right amount of time, over the right amount of heat using the proper cookware and utensils.

In the same way, I think that to become saintly, one has to start with the basic ingredients which are humility and charity.  Humility is one's willingness to put God and others first and oneself last, and charity is one's willingness to share intellect, talents, time and resources with others.  These two ingredients are then fused with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity. [4] To arrive at the perfectly formed being, all of these must be folded into unconditional love for God and for neighbor.

As one can see quickly, neither cooking a dish perfectly nor becoming saintly is easy, if it is even possible for the average person, but that does not mean one must stop trying.  Even if one does not achieve perfection, one can get close enough to have a taste of it, and the more often one tries and the more time one spends trying, perhaps the closer one will reach perfection.  That, I think, and no more, is what is expected of anyone. Whatever shortfall that remains as a result at death will be made up by the Redemptive Blood of Christ.

If we are able to have by the grace of God the Redemptive Blood of Christ live in the heart, we will be perfect, and so will the poulet ala king dish when we cook it, for this dish is not going to be cooked for ourselves, but for our Lord, the Savior of our souls.


[1] Chicken ala king is usually not the first dish that comes to mind when one thinks of Asian food.  I suppose my upbringing was atypical.  I attribute to my thoughts which are not quite your day to day normal thoughts to my upbringing and the grace (hopefully it is not a curse) of God.
[2] I believe I was in Le Marais.
[3]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rice_varieties
[4] The fruits of the Holy Spirit: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm