Greatest Moments in Food History

I came across this wonderfully compiled list of the 100 Greatest Moments in Food History. Tip of the Hat to Ann Althouse.


Here are some of my favorites:

8. c3000BC The Sumerians (occupying the area of present-day Iraq) come up with the concept of the sausage, using nutritious but otherwise unappealing bits of animals and preserving them, probably by drying them in warm winds in casings made from the guts of the animal.

19. c5000BC A herdsman stores milk in a pouch made from the stomach of an animal. Due to the effect of rennet in the stomach, the milk curdles and sets into cheese. The herdsman curses his luck, but soon realises it’s nice with pickled onions.

21. 1924 In Tijuana, Mexico, restaurateur Caesar Cardini is short of food after a big party. Scouring the kitchen, he digs out lettuce, bread, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan, eggs and lemon, and knocks up the first Caesar salad, a dish that does at least look healthy despite being full of fat. It is, needless to say, hugely popular.

42. 1900 André Michelin publishes a guide for touring motorists, offering advice on garages, hotels and restaurants: in 1926, a star system is introduced for restaurants. Inclusion in its pages has since become the accolade to which some (but not all) chefs aspire.

64. 1963 President John F Kennedy declares “Ich bin ein Berliner” to prove his solidarity with his German audience; it also means ‘I am a jam doughnut’.

87. 1927 Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Iowa produces the first bread-slicing machine, providing the standard against which all ‘best things’ are measured.


I particularly like the Caesar Salad one. I think there is something neat about creating something legendary out of a few random ingredients.

I think I just like lists in general though. And food history. Combine the two and I apparently have to blog about it.

Here is another cool link to the origins behind foods named after people.

Tomato Salads & Pizza

Richard. Again with the Tomatoes?

Yeah. Sorry. But it is currently the shining thing that has my attention. To say that I am really into them right now is a gross understatement. A few months ago, I talked with a Fredericksburg farmer for about two hours all about tomato growing. Ridiculous, I know, but I find them to be excellent.

So here are a few things I have done lately with the tomatoes:

So that is an heirloom salad with avocados, pistachios, a little olive oil and some salt & pepper.

This is a Tomato Caprese Salad with mozzarella, basil, a balsamic reduction and some salt & pepper.

That is a salad out of the NYT that I found out about through Ann Althouse. It has peaches, red onion, cilantro, a little lemon juice, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper. It is astonishing, though I didn't drain the liquid from the tomatoes as well as I should have.

My sweet friend, Carolyn Angiolillo, sent me some wonderful buffalo mozzarella.

Which I had to immediately try with a Mortgage Lifter and a Cherokee Purple.

I made a salad for the Aides that had an assortment of Heirlooms smothered in the buffalo mozzarella & walnuts, with a little red wine vinaigrette and some salt & pepper.

And finally, today I made a few Pizza Margheritas with the Heirlooms. I loved the color, but I was extremely impressed & surprised with the taste. Just that 15 minutes of heat really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes, but still keep them nice and juicy. Astonishing.

The Tomatoes So Far.

So, overall I am pretty pleased with how things are going this first year with the tomato garden. I have learned a lot about growing them, and have many things I want to do differently.

This is a recent picture of the garden. If you notice, the left bed is not caged and is laying along the ground. I had planned to cage them all, but summer happened and I ran out of time. 70 of the plants are caged, 10 are not.

This summer I realized just how little time I have for anything other than the kitchen. Next year, I have got to make the garden as low maintenance as possible.

Bugs have been a small problem. Nothing too bad, but I have had fireants, small bugs, grasshoppers and cutworms. I plan on looking for organic methods next year for dealing with them all, though I am not all that opposed to using chemicals.

The cages I bought were a little too flimsy. As the tomato plants grew bigger and taller, the cages bent and fell. I plan on making my own cages next year out of heavy duty wire and staking each for support. I also plan to cage them much much earlier.

The biggest thing that I didn't get to was the irrigation system. It takes me a good hour to water all of the plants at night. Which is time I just don't have. So, I need to get the irrigation system in place and with soaker hoses that go off on a timer. That way the ground will stay consistently moist.

I have two very visible problems with my tomatoes. The first has been blossom end rot (BER) which has caused little brown bottoms on my tomatoes. It was very apparent at the beginning and now has pretty much dissipated.

The second problem is cracking. You can see the cracking in the 2nd picture above. For the most part, the cracking is just ugly. But the cracking can cause fungus, disease and rotting. Which is pretty irritating.

Both of those problems are caused by the irregular watering. The ground is either dry or wet. not just a steady moist. So, the soaker hoses will help with all that.

The last thing I want to do differently is to put down mulch. Specifically straw. The straw will help the soil keep it's moisture and will also prevent weeds from seeing the light of day. It will help with fungus & disease.

So, I am pretty happy with the taste and colors that I am getting, but I am extremely eager about next year and all the improvements.