The close of this decade has us looking back on more than just the last ten years. We dug up the nostalgia of the ’90s (remember the days of high-end Chilean sea bass?) and beyond, chronicling centuries of Pennsylvanian scrapple. We’ve put together our favorite food histories, from the life of Fu Pei-mei, who influenced a lineage of Taiwanese home cooks, to tracing the roots of how olive oil started to become a fixture in every American kitchen 30 years ago.
We asked a lot of questions—and unearthed the answers. Ever wonder why the mid-aughts were filled with $27 restaurant hamburgers? Or who invented the everything bagel? Or how raspberry vinaigrette became an icon of the ’80s? Here’s a roundup of 15 food-centric histories that got us thinking. —Tatiana Bautista, Assistant Editor
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
Everyone Who Invented the Everything Bagel
A handful of middle-aged men think that they invented it. We talked to four of them.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
The Art of the Cooking Demo Disaster
From Letterman and Julia to Leno and Emeril, late-night cooking segments have always been utter chaos.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
When Jacques Pépin Made All the World an Omelet
In April of 1995, Jacques Pépin taped a cooking demonstration that detailed how to make an omelet. And while it was merely one of 105 segments the chef recorded over a frantic two-day period in a studio in Northern California, the clip has become one of the most beloved food videos of all time. This is its story.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
The Legend of Lebanon Bologna
This Pennsylvania Dutch specialty lunch meat is far from the bland bologna of your middle-school lunch table. The sweet and tangy cult favorite is beloved by locals and Pennsylvania expats across the United States. Bless mail order.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
Remember Chilean Sea Bass?
It was the hottest fish of the ’90s. And then things got complicated.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
The Rise and Fall of the Fancy Chef Burger
Hamburgers, with secretive beef blends, over-the-top toppings, and outrageous prices, used to be the celebrated calling card for any respectable chef. Then the histrionics of the patty became a punch line.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and the Guerrilla Gourmands
Some of the most riveting food writing of the 1950s took place among revolutionaries feasting on boas and canned sausages in the jungles of Cuba.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
Why Are We Still Drinking the Paul Newman Lemonade?
Reassessing the pioneering food brand Newman’s Own and the more than $500 million donated to charity.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
The Stretchy Story of the Accidentally Italian Arepa
How did the Mozzarepa—a sweet corn arepa filled with an arm’s length of melted mozzarella—become a staple of street fairs?
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
England's Rich and Golden History of Dripping
The Anglo-Saxon answer to schmaltz. Rhapsodized about by Dickens, Orwell, and Swift. It’s maybe even England’s national dish.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
Raspberry Vinaigrette Changed the Way We Salad
How America’s side salads turned fruity and fuchsia.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
She Raised a Generation of Taiwanese Home Cooks
Then she taught their American kids to cook too. Meet the remarkable Fu Pei-mei.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
The Multimillion-Dollar Junkets That Introduced Americans to Olive Oil
The olive oil industry spent millions of dollars throughout the ’90s to try to sell American chefs and nutritionists on the Mediterranean diet. It worked.
Top 15 Food Histories of 2019
As American as the Greek Salad
How the combination of cucumbers and feta gained a few ingredients and became a coast-to-coast staple.