Posts tagged “today in food history”

April 1 is Soylent Green Day: “For the people, by the people.”

Posted on March 31, 2018

 

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Interesting Food Facts about Soylent Green

  1. Soylent Green, introduced 1966, is usually considered the original “green” food.
  2. It was first marketed as a, “Miracle food of high-energy plankton gathered from the oceans of the world.”
  3. Throughout the years the company has adopted many slogans:
    • “Food for the people, by the people.”
    • “Make room, make room for green.”
    • “It’s easy being green.”
    • “You’re in good hands with Soylent.”
  4. You can find many recipes for homemade Soylent Green, but there’s nothing like the real thing.
  5. It is said that Charlton Heston was this snack’s #1 fan, keeping mass quantities in his home.

Fun Fact:

The Soylent Green Biscuit Co. is planning on world distribution by 2022.

The Soylent Green Biscuit Co’s famous snack has been a cult classic since its inception in 1973.  People everywhere were delighted to have this affordable snack that “tastes just like grandmas.”

Charlton Heston says that, “When April 1st heralds the coming of Spring, I always think fondly of Soylent Green.”

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Today’s Food History

  • 1582 France adopted the new Gregorian calendar.  Prior to that, the new year was celebrated on April 1.
  • 1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was born.  In his books, dining is treated as an art form and contains many delightful and witty observations on the pleasures of the table.
  • 1893 The first dishwashing machine became an award winning success at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which used Josephine Garis Cochran’s hand operated, mechanical dishwashers in its kitchens.  (She patented her original version on December 28, 1886.)  Her company eventually evolved into KitchenAid.
  • 1911 Seaman Asahel Knapp died.  An American agriculturist, he began the system which evolved into the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service.
  • 1932 Actor Gordon Jump was born.  The ‘Maytag Repairman’ in commercials, also Arthur Carlson on ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’
  • 1960 Tiros I, the first weather observation satellite was launched from Cape Kennedy.
  • 1976 Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Margaritaville’ was released.
  • 1976 Carl Peter Henrik Dam died. Dam was a Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K in 1939.
  • 1994 Ray Geiger died (born Sept 18, 1910).  Editor of theFarmers’ Almanac from 1934-1993, and editor of American Farm & Home Almanac from 1964-1990.
  • 1996 The Taco Bell fast food chain played an April Food joke on the American public by claiming to have bought the Liberty Bell to help pay down the national debt
  • 1999 The first minimum wage goes into effect in Britain, £3.60 an hour for adults and £3.00 an hour for those under 22 years old.
  • 1999 In April 1999, Restaurant Nora in Washington DC became America’s first certified organic restaurant.  This means that 95% or more of everything that you eat at the restaurant has been produced by certified organic growers and farmers.

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Categories: April Food Holidays, Food Holidays

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April 5 is National Raisin and Spice Bar Day

Posted on April 5, 2015
minimalistbaker.com

minimalistbaker.com

Here are today’s five thing to know about Raisin and Spice Bar:

  1. Raisin spice bars are typically made with cinnamon, allspice, chopped pecans or walnuts, and raisins.
  2.  The the creator and origin of National Raisin and Spice Bar Day is not clear. 
  3. Raisin – comes from the Latin racemus and means “a cluster of grapes or berries”.
  4. Raisin grapes were grown as early as 2000 bc in Persia and Egypt, and dried grapes are mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 6:3) during the time of Moses. David (Israel’s future king) was presented with “a hundred clusters of raisins” (1 Samuel 25:18), probably sometime during the period 1110–1070 bc.
  5. Raisin colors vary by drying process. For example, a dark purplish/black raisin is sun-dried. A light to medium brown raisin is mechanically dehydrated in special drying tunnels.

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Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

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Today’s Food History

  • 1764 The Sugar Act passed in Britain, placing new restrictions on the import of molasses to America.
  • 1806 Isaac Quintard patented the apple cider mill.
  • 1858 W. Atlee Burpee was born. Founder of the world’s largest mail-order seed company in 1876.
  • 1881 Edwing Houston and Elihu Thomson patented a centrifugal separator, which could be used in separating milk.
  • 1981 Bob Hite died. Singer with Canned Heat.
  • 1994 Andre Tchelistcheff died. Tchelistcheff was a Russian-born U.S. enologist, was a pivotal figure in the revitalization of the California wine industry following Prohibition (1919-33) and used his Paris training in viticulture and wine making to pioneer such techniques as cold fermentation and the use of American oak barrels for aging. He was also an authority on the types of soil suitable for growing various grape varieties.
  • Encyclopedia Brittanica (CD-2002)
  • 1998 The Spice Girls first U.K. concert in Glasgow

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Categories: April Food Holidays, Food Holidays

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April 4 is National Cordon Bleu Day

Posted on April 4, 2015

Here are today’s five thing to know about Cordon Bleu:

  1. The phrase “Cordon Bleu” means “Blue Ribbon” when referring to the dish.
  2. Another use of the phrase “Cordon Bleu” comes from a distinguished order of sixteenth-century French knights, who apparently wore blue sashes and were therefore popularly referred to as the “Cordon-bleus.”
  3. Cordon Bleu is a thinly pounded piece of meat (most often chicken, but also veal or pork) stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and fried.
  4. Chicken Cordon Bleu is a relatively recent American creation, first found mentioned in the written word in 1967.
  5. Common variations on this recipe include baking instead of frying, skipping the breading, and switching the order of the meats.

Fun Fact:

The dish did not originate at any of the prestigious Cordon Bleu cooking schools of Europe as often thought. It is not exactly clear who was the first person to prepare and name the dish chicken cordon bleu.

There are many regional dishes from Europe that share characteristics with Chicken Cordon Bleu. Some of the countries that include roulades, or roll ups of meat, in their cuisine are Germany, France and Italy.

In largely Muslim-populated countries, the halal versions of chicken cordon bleu are also popular, but to cater to the halal requirement for the Muslims, the chicken is rolled around a beef instead of a pork product.

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Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

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Today’s Food History

  • 1828 Casparus van Wooden of Amsterdam, patented chocolate milk powder.
  • 1871 Mary Florence Potts of Ottumwa, Iowa patented the ‘Mrs. Potts’ pressing iron. It had a detachable handle so several iron bodies could be heated and used in turn as one cooled down.
  • 1883 Peter Cooper died. American inventor and founder of the ‘Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.’ He also obtained the first American patent for the manufacture of gelatin. In 1895, a cough syrup manufacturer, Pearl B. Wait purchased the patent and developed a packaged gelatin dessert. Wait’s wife, May David Wait named it Jell-O.
  • 1884 Adolphe Duglere died. A pupil of Careme, head chef of the Rothschild family, and head chef of the famous 19th century Paris restaurant, the Cafe Anglais.
  • 1887 William Cumming Rose was born. An American biochemist, he researched amino acids, and established the importance of the 8 essential amino acids in human nutrition.
  • 1893 Alphonse Pyrame de Candolle died. A Swiss botanist, author of ‘Origin of Cultivated Plants.’
  • 1899Benjamin F. Jackson patented a gas burner.
  • 1932 Vitamin C is first isolated by C.G. King at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • 1998 A locust plague in Ethiopia was reported that covered almost 4,000 acres

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Categories: April Food Holidays, Food Holidays

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April 1 is National Sourdough Bread Day

Posted on April 1, 2015

Here are today’s five thing to know about Sourdough Bread:

  • The liquid alcohol layer referred to as ‘hooch’ comes from an Native American tribe called Hoochinoo. The Hoochinoo used to trade supplies with Alaskan gold miners for the ‘hooch’ off the top of their sourdough starters.
  • Barm is the English term for sourdough starter. It is derived from the term ‘barmy’ which means tipsy, or ditzy. This is because of the alcohol!
  • Sourdough likely originated in Ancient Egyptian times around 1500 BC and was likely the first form of leavening available to bakers.
  • Baker’s yeast is not useful as sourdough starter for leavening rye bread, as rye does not contain enough gluten.
  • Most bread is leavened with yeast, but sourdough is leavened with the Lactobacillus bacterium.

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Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

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Today’s Food History

1582 France adopted the new Gregorian calendar. Prior to that, the new year was celebrated on April 1. (The new year actually started on March 25, which fell during Holy Week – so the celebrations were delayed until the first day of April). One explanation of the origin of ‘April Fools Day’ is that those who failed to accept the new start of the year on January 1 became the object of practical jokes. (Pope Gregory XIII introduced the new Gregorian Calendar in 1582. It is possible that Charles IX of France may have changed the start of the New Year to January in 1564).

1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was born. A French politician and author of the 8 volume Physiologie du goût, ou Méditation de gastronomie transcendante, ouvrage théorique, historique et à l’ordre du jour (“The Physiology of Taste, or Meditation on Transcendent Gastronomy, a Work Theoretical, Historical, and Programmed”) published in 1825. It treats dining as an art form and contains many delightful and witty observations on the pleasures of the table.

1893 The first dishwashing machine became an award winning success at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which used Josephine Garis Cochran’s hand operated, mechanical dishwashers in its kitchens. (She patented her original version on December 28, 1886.) Her company eventually evolved into KitchenAid.

1911 Seaman Asahel Knapp died. An American agriculturist, he began the system which evolved into the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service.

1932 Actor Gordon Jump was born. The ‘Maytag Repairman’ in commercials, also Arthur Carlson on ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’.

1960 Tiros I, the first weather observation satellite was launched from Cape Kennedy.

1976 Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Margaritaville’ was released.

1976 R.I.P. Carl Peter Henrik Dam. Dam was a Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K in 1939.

1996 The Taco Bell fast food chain played an April Food joke on the American public by claiming to have bought the Liberty Bell to help pay down the national debt.

1999 The first minimum wage goes into effect in Britain, £3.60 an hour for adults and £3.00 an hour for those under 22 years old.

1999 In April 1999, Restaurant Nora in Washington DC became America’s first certified organic restaurant. This means that 95% or more of everything that you eat at the restaurant has been produced by certified organic growers and farmers.

Categories: April Food Holidays, Food Holidays

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