C h e t w How Hot Dog y n d Found Bun H “This book is like a culinary version of One Thousand and One Nights. Each entry combines the sturdiness and dependability of history with the readability and charm of a folk tale. o I wish I’d had this volume at hand back when I was doing my live show on The Food w Network. Hardly a day went by when I wasn’t asked about the origins of one dish or another.” —Sara Moulton, host of PBS’s Sara’s Weeknight Meals t h e A smorgasbord of vignettes and tidbits about the quirky—and sometimes H downright odd—origins of various kitchen inventions, products, and foodstuff o t Sometimes it’s neither art nor science that serves as the origins of the everyday kitchen D Accidental Discoveries AnD and food items we take for granted today. Sometimes, as Josh Chetwynd shows us, some of our greatest culinary achievements were simply by-products of “damned good o Unexpected Inspirations That Shape g luck.” Within these pages you will discover the beginnings of kitchen inventions, products, and foodstuff in short essays that dispel popular myths and draw lines between food F What We Eat Drink facts and food fiction, from the serendipitous creation of Granny Smith apples through open o AnD pollination to the Caesar salad’s Mexican roots and more. u n Josh Chetwynd is an award-winning journalist who has served as a staff reporter at d USA Today, the Hollywood Reporter, and U.S. News & World Report and as a broad- caster for BBC Radio. His work has also appeared in such publications as the Wall Street I t Journal, the Times (of London), Variety, and the Harvard Negotiation Law Review on s topics as varied as sports, film, politics, and legal issues. He has previously written three books, B including The Secret History of Balls: The Stories Behind the Things We Love to Catch, Whack, u Throw, Kick, Bounce and Bat. n Cover design by Bret Kerr US $14.95 / Canadian $16.95 Josh Chetwynd Cover photographs licensed by Shutterstock.com; back cover illustration by David Cole Wheeler Lyons Press is an imprint of Illustrations by David Cole Wheeler Globe Pequot Press Lyons Guilford, Connecticut Press www.LyonsPress.com HotDogs_v_final_mech_sized.indd 1 3/2/12 2:17 PM How Hot Dog s t Found IBun HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 1 2/27/12 9:53 AM HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 2 2/27/12 9:53 AM How Hot Dog s t Found IBun Accidental Discoveries and Unexpected Inspirations That Shape What We Eat Drink and Josh Chetwynd illustrations by David Cole Wheeler HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 3 2/27/12 9:53 AM For Jennifer and Becca Copyright © 2012 Josh Chetwynd ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437. Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press. Illustrations: David Cole Wheeler Text design: Ann Pawlick Project editor: Julie Marsh Layout: Maggie Peterson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. ISBN 978-0-7627-7750-1 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 4 2/27/12 9:53 AM Contents ix Introduction Starters and Small Plates Bisquick: Tardy train traveler 1 Brown ’n Serve Rolls: Fire alarm discovery 3 Buffalo Wings: Late night munchies 4 Caesar Salad: Empty refrigerator 6 Cheese: Not your average bag 8 Cobb Salad: Celebrity restaurateur 9 Kellogg’s Corn Flakes: Distracted, disagreeable brothers 11 Nachos: Ravenous army wives 13 Tapas: Fruit flies 15 Wheaties: Messy cooking 16 Main Courses Chicken Marengo: Broken supply line 19 Chicken Tikka Masala: Fussy customer 21 Chimichanga: Fryer slip-up 23 Fettuccine Alfredo: Finicky new mom 24 Filet-O-Fish: Religious rules 26 French Dip Sandwich: Extra sauce 28 Philly Cheesesteak: Hungry hot dog vendor 30 Sandwiches: Focused gambler 32 Tempura: Missionaries’ menu 34 TV Dinners: Overstocked turkeys 36 Desserts Chocolate Chip Cookies: Missing ingredient 39 Chocolate Molten Cake (Chocolate Lava Cake): Celebrity chef flub 41 Cookies ’n Cream Ice Cream: Short work break 43 HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 5 2/27/12 9:53 AM CONTENTS Crêpes Suzette: Clumsy waiter 45 Granny Smith Apples: Garbage discovery 47 Rhubarb: Bumbling builders 49 Tarte Tatin: Ditzy sister 50 Candies and Snacks Cheese Puffs: Rabbit food 53 Chewing Gum: Deposed dictator and a nosy accountant 55 Doughnuts: Seafaring captain 57 Graham Crackers: Sex-ruining snack 59 Jelly Tots: Camera-ready treat 61 PEZ: Antismoking mint 62 Pop Rocks: Failed drink additive 64 Popsicles: Cold night and forgetful kid 67 Potato Chips: Take-no-guff chef 69 Pretzels: Holy rewards 71 Twinkies: Strawberry afterthought 73 Additives and Extras Alka-Seltzer: Newspaper discovery 76 Artificial Sweeteners: Sloppy scientists 78 Baking Powder: Adoring husband 80 Corn Starch: Indomitable chemist 81 Hot Dog Bun: Small carts and glove thieves 83 Ice-Cream Cone: Debatable world’s fair find 84 Maple Syrup: Native American domestic clash 87 Marmalade: Stormy oranges 89 Mayonnaise: Victory spread 90 Nutella: Post–World War II austerity 92 Tabasco Sauce: Civil War epic 94 Whipped Cream: Student’s failed hypothesis 95 Worcestershire Sauce: Forgotten barrel 97 vi HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 6 2/27/12 9:53 AM CONTENTS Drinks Champagne: Devil’s bubbly and a timely pilgrimage 100 Coca-Cola: Headaches and prohibition 102 Coffee: Dancing goats 104 Cognac: Savvy Dutch merchants 106 Gibson Martini: Wry bartender, ingenious diplomat, or San Francisco pride 108 Irish Coffee: Dangerous flight 110 Kool-Aid: Post office complications 112 Ovaltine: Foul-tasting health drink 114 Pink Lemonade: Accidental carnival creation 116 Tea (and Iced Tea): Mystic brew 118 White Zinfandel: Lucky fermentation 120 Kitchen Inventions and Innovations Cellophane: Stained tablecloth 122 CorningWare: Nuclear warheads 124 Dishwashers: Klutzy maids 126 Linoleum: Bedroom paint can 128 Matches: Unplanned friction 130 Microwaves: Melting candy bar 132 Paper Towels: Mistaken delivery 134 Saran Wrap: After-hours lab worker 135 S O S Pads: Desperate door-to-door salesman 137 Stainless Steel: From gun contract to utensils 139 Styrofoam: Wartime insulator 140 Tea Bags: Sample packaging 142 Teflon: Guinea pig, refrigerator coolant, and fishing gear 143 149 Acknowledgments 150 Notes 163 Selected Sources and Further Reading 164 About the Author vii HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 7 2/27/12 9:53 AM HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 8 2/27/12 9:53 AM Introduction Luck touches every part of our lives. As the Roman poet Ovid once said, “Luck affects everything; let your hook always be cast. In the stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish.” In the culinary world, hearing luck and food in the same sentence isn’t always a good thing. It can conjure up thoughts like, “You’re lucky you didn’t get sick from that week-old pizza!” But when it comes to the creation of great dishes, satisfying drinks, and useful kitchen utensils, it’s a concept that can captivate us. Consider, if you will, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the chocolate-peanut-butter marriage was celebrated with a highly successful ad campaign featuring two people colliding and their beloved foods intermingling. Their campy verbal exchange— “You got peanut butter on my chocolate!” “Your chocolate is in my pea- nut butter!”—would end with unintended gastronomic bliss. Decades on, these spots still resonate (for proof, just check out a parody of the ads on YouTube from the animated comedy series Family Guy). Why? Because we love happy culinary accidents, and, as it happens, there’s no shortage of them. Nachos and Popsicles. French dip sandwiches and potato chips. Microwaves and paper towels. Luck, in fact, is the resonating theme of this book. It drives so many of those culinary instances of unforeseen good fortune that have kept our bellies full and our kitchens running smoothly over the centuries. Behind these lucky discoveries are usually acts of serendipity, a concept first coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. He’d read a book about Serendip (modern-day Sri Lanka) called The Three Princes of Serendip and was fascinated by the title characters, who “were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” Using that quote as a definition, he started describing some of his work as serendipity. ix HotDog_fnl_CS55.indd 9 2/27/12 9:53 AM