Did your mother make Chicken Divan, growing up? Ours did, and it is one of those flavors that takes me back to my childhood! It’s made me think how great it might be to do up a cookbook of those classic American dishes!

Reading up on it now, Chicken Divan was invented at the Hotel Chatham in New York City at the turn of the 20th Century, by the hotel’s chef, Anthony Lagasi. Lagasi was apparently also the past president of the Escoffier Society and the Chefs de Cuisine Association — but, while he was apparently Italian, he was not related to Emeril Lagasse, despite their similarity of surnames! (I love that the inventor of Chicken Divan was Italian!)