Kitchen accidents happen now and again. But the results aren’t always burnt food or inedible concoctions. Take a look at the humble beginnings of 5 food items now enjoyed worldwide:
1. Chocolate Chip Cookies
The delicious cookie recipe came about in 1930, when Ruth Wakefield, ownder of Toll House Inn substituted baking chocolate with smashed pieces of semi-sweet chocolate bar for the cookies she was baking. The result was a scrumptious batch of cookies with chunks of chocolate that soon became a hit in the Whitman, Massachusetts area.
Dello Mano chocolate chip cookies
2. Popsicle
Did you know that this frozen treat has been around since 1905? As the story goes, Frank Epperson was making a soda water mixture. He accidentally left the mixture on the back porch overnight, with the stirring stick still in the container. Epperson was amazed to find the frozen soda water on a stick that he shared his creation with his friends. These days, popsicles come in so many formulations. But perhaps the best thing about it is that we all can make them at home!
3. Sandwich
Sandwiches are popular especially for those who want an on-the-go meal. As it turns out, the sandwich first came about because of a similar need. The fourth Earl of Sandwich John Montagu was so engrossed with his card game that he did not want to stop for a proper meal. He ordered his servant to bring him a piece of meat held by two slices of bread so he could continue playing. The earl’s legacy lives on and he might be mighty proud if he could see how many interestingly delicious and nutritious sandwich variants we have now!
Dello Mano Club Sandwich
4. Champagne
The most popular story about the champagne was that of Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon saying, “Come quickly, I am tasting stars!”upon tasting the beverage in 1697. However, it is widely believed that a British doctor named Christopher Merret was the accidental inventor of the drink in the early 1660s. The doctor added sugar to wine which led to unexpected second fermentation.
Dello Mano luxury brownies are great with champagne too!
5. Brownies
There are many stories surrounding the invention of the sweet treat we know and love. According to the books Betty Crocker’s Baking Classics and The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, brownies were accidentally invented in the early 1900s by a housewife from Bangor, Maine. It is said that she forgot to add baking powder to the chocolate cake she was making so the cake was flat. There is also the story of a chef adding melted chocolate to biscuits by accident and the other one about a cake that didn’t have enough flour.
But the most documented one is that Bertha Palmer, requested the chefs at her husband’s hotel (Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel) to creat a treat that would fit in the boxed lunches for the Women’s Pavillion at the World Columbian Exposition in 1893.
The history of brownies may not be agreed upon just yet but what we can all agree on is how the delicious treat is loved the world over, right?
Which accidental food invention is your favorite?