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The world's quest for food has inspired new ways to eat it and preserve it. Foods have crossed hemispheres and generations, playing key roles in society and culture. 1011 1191 1212 Pop Quiz! The United States supplies about two-thirds of the world's soybeans. About half of the crop is exported. Soy has many other uses. Did you know that the soybean is one of the world's most useful and cheapest sources of protein? Soy flour is used in baby food, cereals, baked goods and low-calorie products. Soy grits are used in candy and processed meats. And there's soy milk and soy sauce. Many people around the world get their protein from soy instead of meat, eggs and cheese. Crude soy meal is used in manufacturing such products as fertilizer, fire extinguisher fluid, insect sprays and paint. It is used to feed animals. Food for house pets contains soybeans. 1226 1280 Early 1300s Shredded beef makes its way from the Turks to Germany. People in Hamburg add a "special sauce" and call it the Hamburg steak. This is the predecessor to the hamburger. 1400 1492 Pop Quiz! And when a turkey is calm, the head is pink. Here are some other quirky turkey facts: Can turkeys fly? Here's what Butterball Turkey Co. says: Domesticated turkeys can't fly, but wild ones can fly for distances up to 55 miles. Why is a turkey called a turkey? Some possible explanations, according to Butterball: • Christopher Columbus: He thought the land he discovered was connected
to India, where there are lots of peacocks. Perhaps he thought turkeys
were a type of peacock, so he named it tuka, which is "peacock" in the
Tamil language of India. Early 1500s Vanilla beans reach Spain as an ingredient in Aztec drink. Chili, a cayenne pepper from the Americas, reaches India in 1525, becoming the base for curries. Curry derives from the Indian word "kari," meaning sauce. Indian chapati or parata breads are eaten with curries. 1533 Pop Quiz! In March 1990, Bush declared, "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." But ever the politician, he acknowledged that there's "a broccoli vote out there." "Barbara loves broccoli!" he said. "She's tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that's coming in." That was a reference to a shipment of 10 tons of the vegetable on the way to Washington to feed the hungry, courtesy of the nation's broccoli growers, inspired by reports of the president's feelings about their product. For her part, Barbara Bush later told reporters: "I'm eating his broccoli. Don't worry about it." Late 1500s The first crop of domestically grown tomatoes is produced and eaten in England in 1597. Early 1600s Mayflower, carrying English settlers, arrives off Cape Cod, Mass., in 1620. Pilgrims are given maize, dried strawberries and walnuts by a Native American tribe called the Wampanoags. Apple seeds are planted in Massachusetts in 1629. Honeybees are introduced in America in 1638. 1659 Mid-1700s In 1764, British farmer John Bartram discovers vast groves of wild oranges in Florida. In 1765, Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani suggests preserving food in hermetically sealed containers. Spanish Franciscan missionary plants first wine grapes, oranges, figs and olives in San Diego, Calif., mission in 1769. Late 1700s Pop Quiz! The first Coke was brewed in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton in a brass pot in his back yard. It was a variant of his French Wine Coca-Ideal Nerve and Tonic Stimulant. There was no bottling then, so it was sold as a soda fountain drink. Pemberton tried out his new syrup at Jacobs Pharmacy down the block, where it was well received. His partner, Frank Robinson, suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought two C's would look good in advertising. Early ads promoted the soda "For Headache or Tired Feeling. Relieves Physical and Mental Exhaustion. " In 1886, sales of Coke averaged nine drinks a day at the Jacobs Pharmacy. Although business picked up, with his health failing, Pemberton decided to sell. In 1891, Asa Candler, a 39-year-old pharmacist plagued by headaches, bought the rights to Coca-Cola for $2,300. Candler was pleased to own a remedy for his affliction. If he had any financial headaches, Coke surely cured those. His investment earned him some $50 million. It has been said that Coke at its inception contained cocaine from coca leaves, but the company denies it. Coca leaves are still an ingredient in the soft drink, but they are de-cocainized. Early 1800s The first icebox insulated with charcoal is developed in 1803. Obscure Parisian chef Nicolas Appert revolutionizes food preservation in 1804 by preserving food in glass bottles that had been sealed and heated in boiling water. He later replaces glass bottles with steel cylinders plated with tin. He opens the world's first canning factory. He also invents the bouillion cube. Tangerines reach Europe in 1805 from China. Mid-1800s German chemist Robert W. Bunsen invents the first practical gas burner in 1855. By the 1860s, the Bunsen burner becomes popular in cities. American glass blower John L. Mason introduces the glass jar with a screw-on cap in 1858. It's called the Mason jar. By 1860, French scientist Louis Pasteur discovers that organisms cause food spoilage. 1869 Late 1800s Henry J. Heinz begins bottling and marketing tomato ketchup in 1876. American meat packers perfect refrigerated railway cars in the 1880s. The term "calorie" is applied to food in 1895. First U.S. pizzeria opens in New York. John Harvey Kellogg develops new types of flaked cold cereals. Late 1800s Classics Pop Quiz! Up until the 1980s, all sorts of things used to go into hot dogs, including lungs, spleens, hearts, bones and worse, which is why the hot dog is much maligned. It is much more palatable today. Let's examine what goes into the basic hot dog today: • Up to 10 percent water Early 1900s American businessman J.L. Kraft patents a method in 1917 for making processed cheese. Later, he thinks to wrap slices in individual wrappers. In 1918, with anti-German sentiment running high in the wake of World War I, victorious Americans call sauerkraut "liberty cabbage." German toast becomes "French toast." Deep-freezing process for cooked foods is developed in 1924 by Clarence Birdseye and Charles Seabrook. By 1928, a Michigan inventor's bread slicer is used commercially. John Dewar, manager of Continental Baking Co.'s Chicago plant, whips up a banana-flavored cream filling for the company's shortcakes. They are christened Twinkies. In 1937, Spam is introduced. Pop Quiz! After the Hormel company found itself with several thousand extra pounds of pork shoulder on its hands in 1937, it introduced what it touted as a new "miracle meat," a combination of ham and ground pork shoulder cooked in a tin. Seeking a name that would distinguish it from its many competitors, Hormel held a contest offering $100 to the winner. The entry that won was Spam for "spiced ham." Because of its convenience, versatility and indefinite shelf life, Spam was served ad nauseam by military cooks in World War II. GIs called it "the ham that didn't pass its physical" and "a meatball without basic training." Spam had to overcome more unfavorable publicity than any other American food, but it bounced back. Today, more than 100 million cans are sold year. Mid-1950s Swanson introduces the 98-cent frozen "TV Dinner" in 1953. Ray Kroc opens the first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Ill., in 1955. An Osaka, Japan, entrepreneur notices few cheap noodle shops after World War II, and invents instant ramen in 1959. 1960s In 1963, "The French Chef" series begins on PBS in Boston, creating a revolution in America's attitudes toward food. Because of demand created by Julia Child's programs, markets begin to carry ingredients such as leeks and fresh herbs. In 1969, U.S. government, concerned about results of tests linking food additives to cancer, removes cyclamates from the market and limits use of MSG (monosodium glutamate). 1996 Pop Quiz! Lactose intolerance is common among blacks, Asians, Jews, Native Americans, and some Mediterranean and Hispanic peoples. The inability to digest more than a small amount of milk occurs because the enzyme lactase, which breaks down the milk's lactose in the intestines, is produced in increasingly smaller quantities in most people after infancy. Many adults are unable to drink milk or eat dairy products without experiencing gas, bloating, diarrhea and cramps. Cultured dairy products, such as yogurt and buttermilk, are easier for lactose-intolerant people to digest. Cheese is a little trickier: The longer cheese has been aged, the less lactose it contains. Look for lactose-reduced products in U.S. supermarkets. 1999 Future of Food
Irradiated meat: No need to defrost that steak, fire up the grill and wait for it to cook. Irradiated steak, zapped by radiation to reduce harmful bacteria, is ready to eat. It can be stored safely for three to five years. Bioengineering: Potatoes will have less fat and more starch. Soybeans and canola have reduced saturated fat. Tomatoes are resistant to deadly virus and have dramatically increased beta-carotene (Vitamin A) content. Corn fends off worms. Water: Drinking fountains come with coin slots. Greenhouse farms: Plants grow year-round without soil. Try this: Lunch at work weighs in as a pill. A plate of toasted insects appears as a common dinner entree. Ohmic heating: Food is heated rapidly and uniformly by passing an electric current through it, so that it cooks in its own juice. It's an inexpensive way to kill harmful pathogens, molds or spores. Basic texture that suffers under normal heating methods is retained. Packaging: In the supermarket of the future, food packages will be wrapped with "intelligent" film that can sense when the temperature gets too high for the food to remain safe to eat -- in a frozen-food case, for example. Wine: Good grapes for wine-making are grown in Uruguay, Bulgaria, Albania, Ukraine, Manchuria, North Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia and Turkey. Designer veggies: Broccolini, a cross between asparagus and broccoli, has long, slender stalks with buds on top. Look for more mini pumpkins, grape tomatoes, yellow watermelons, red corn, green eggplants. Expect a proliferation of Asian vegetables, such as Chinese water spinach, Asian pears, adzuka or yard-long beans, hairy melons, flowering cabbage or choy sum, perilla or purple mint. From Africa will come bottle gourds and a spinach-like succulent that is steamed before eating. Related Links The Food We Eat Recipes from the Old Days Food Lovers Companion Good Food for Busy Women Food & Festivity Good Eating News About Food Sources Credits Copyright
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