Ice Cream Cone
The Ice Cream Cone is one of the most important innovations in ice cream history also ranks among the bizarre food origin stories. In fact, before it was invented ice cream was either licked out of glass containers or wrapped in paper. In short, eating ice cream was gross. Who would want to eat in a glass licked by so many people? But even if it was unsanitary, the demand was high. Ice cream vendors usually lacked the time to properly wash the dishes when people kept demanding it in hot days.
Fortunately in 1904, the invention of the ice cream cone saved all ice cream lovers from everyone else’s slobber. Although Marchiony is credited as the inventor, a similar version was introduced in 1904 at the St. Louis’ World’s Fair. A Syrian concessionaire named Ernest A. Hamwi rolled his waffle-like pastries known as ‘Zalabis’ into a cone. He gave it to his neighboring ice cream vendor who ran out of dishes to serve his ice cream with. Long story short, the customers were happy, ice cream vendors had less hassle, and eating ice cream was a lot safer. Who knew a good deed could go a long way?
Sandwich
One of mankind’s greatest innovations in food history is the sandwich. Apparently it also comes with one of the most bizarre food origin stories. It turns out that the origin story of how this dish is now EVERYWHERE was born out of a man’s laziness to use proper utensils. The story is that sometime in the 1700s the 4th Earl of Sandwich– John Montagu requested it from his servants. How it happened? Well that’s something that people don’t agree on. Some say that he was in the middle of a fierce gambling game so he ordered that meat between two pieces of bread should be brought to him at once. Another story says that the Earl was extremely busy for long periods of time so he requested a utensil-free meal. Whatever the case, we can all agree that the sandwich made getting meals a whole lot easier.
Now in today’s modern world the earl’s sandwich is consumed by fast-paced employees, stressed college students, hungry fast-food consumers and basically EVERYONE. A big thanks to you Earl of Sandwich!
Potato Chips
Once upon a time, a customer dined at Saratoga’s springs’ Moon Lakehouse. Like most people he ordered the house specialty– Moon’s Fried potatoes. Chef George Crum gave him exactly what he ordered, but the batch of fried potatoes kept coming back to the kitchen because the customer kept complaining that they were too thick.
Who wouldn’t be upset with an annoying customer who insults your cooking? This led Chef George Crum to cut the last batch of potatoes as thin as possible, fry them to a crisp and add tons of salt. Crum thought that now the chips were surely inedible. Surprisingly, there’s a twist. Once his revenge dish was served the customer took his first bite– AND LOVED IT. Our potato chips were born! Now you know that every potato chip lover will forever be grateful to the annoying customer and Chef Crum’s unexpected revenge plot.
Nachos
When we see nachos in front of our LCD screens we remember the mouth-watering melted cheese, the deliciously gooey garlic cream, the bright green cilantro plus all the pounds of beefy goodness! It’s no doubt that nachos are one of the universe’s greatest inventions. The tale of how this dish came to satisfy our gastronomic pleasures began decades ago in the middle of World War II.
In 1943, a group of American military wives lived together at Eagle Pass, Texas. To avoid seclusion at the military base, they often wandered to nearby towns–one of which was PiedrasNegras in Mexico. One day these women ventured to the Victory Club restaurant. The maître d’ Ignacio “Nacho” Anayawas happy to meet them but unfortunately the chef was away. He didn’t want them to just leave so he decided to improvise with some jalapenos, grated cheese and tortilla chips. Long story short once the women loved it, the nachos business skyrocketed! Moral of the story: The desire to please women can lead to extraordinary feats.
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Sometimes a bit of creativeness can go a long way. This is exactly what happened to Ruth Wakefield when she created our favorite chocolate chip cookie. One day when making a dessert, she ran out of baker’s chocolate. Instead of going back to a grocery store and complaining, she decided to improvise. She cut-up a semisweet chocolate bar from Nestle as a substitute. Thus, our chocolate chips were born with one of the most bizarre food origin stories!
Worcestershire Sauce
As we all know from our history books, the English colonized India to gain access to spices. Spices were so rare and so “exotic” that these seasonings were fought for by other countries. If they were so popular it wouldn’t be surprising if someone tried to recreate them locally. A nobleman attempted to do just that by commissioning two chemists named John Lea and William Perrins to recreate a sauce he loved in Bengal. But how would two chemists replicate something they never even tasted before?
Popsicle
The tale begins in 1905 in the home of 11-year old Frank Epperson. One night, he made his usual sugary drink—a soda powder combined with water and mixed it with a stirring stick. He accidentally left his drink (with the stirring stick) outside in the middle of winter. The next day, a Popsicle was made! He gave some of his first Popsicle creations to other kids who absolutely loved it. This made Frank realize that the Popsicle would be a hit. He kept this discovery a secret for 18 years until he had the resources to distribute them commercially.
