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.