Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

  Imagine a hamburger without ketchup. How about French Fries? Ketchup is loved around the world. 97% of Americans own a bottle of ketchup. 11 billion single-serve packets of Heinz ketchup are used worldwide each year – almost two packets for every person on the planet. Where did one of America’s most iconic foods come from? Imperial China. Say what? Think 2300 years ago. According to History “as far back as 300 BC texts began documenting the use of fermented

Everyone loves a sandwich. There are so many choices, so many breads, and so many fillings. It’s a finger food made in heaven. Sandwiches have been with us for a long time. The first recorded sandwich was by Hillel the Elder, the ancient Jewish sage. He lived in the first century, during the time of King Herod and the Roman Emperor Augustus. Known for his intellect and love of humanity, Hillel wrapped meat from the Paschal lamb with bitter herbs,

  Legend says it began as an accident. It was winter in Oakland, California (1905). The sun was warm during the day and the night was cold. 11-year-old Frank Epperson was having fun. Using a wooden stick, Frank mixed a popular fruit-flavored soft drink powder with water. He accidently left it on the porch overnight. The temperature dropped to record lows. In the morning Frank discovered his concoction was frozen solid. Using the wood stick as a handle, he tasted

The first time I met a cherimoya was at a Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles. “Try it,” the farmer grinned. “You won’t be sorry,” Accepting his challenge, I took the green, grenade-looking fruit home. Not sure what I would discover, I cut it open and found a white, creamy fruit with inedible large black seeds. I spooned one bite and understood why Mark Twain called it the “most delicious fruit known to men.” It’s like eating pudding – chill it,

Meet Harry. Not the Prince. Nothing could stop our Harry. He was born in 1879 on the poor Frosty Hill Farm in Muddy Creek, Pennsylvania. He was an only child – that meant working from a very young age. The boy helped farm, milk cows, and when he was old enough, built a “pond” to raise frogs and sell them to local restaurants. You might know him better as Harry Burnett Reese. Harry married in 1900. He and his wife

It was a treat reserved for me and my Dad. We lived in Queens, New York and I felt very special when Dad put me in the front passenger seat and drove to the lower east side of Manhattan. First, we sat on red swivel stools at a long shiny Luncheonette counter. The server squirted cherry syrup into a glass and filled it with coca cola. He called it a cherry coke. We walked down Houston Street. Men passed in

Once upon a time there were two sons who wanted to out-do their dads. Forest Mars didn’t get along with his wildly successful dad, Frank Mars. Dad founded the Mars Candy Company with popular treats like Milky Way, Snickers, and later, Three Musketeers. Forrest was sent to run the family business in Europe. It got him out of dad’s hair and hopefully groomed him to run the company. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) Forrest noticed soldiers nibbling on British

Cheese begins with milk. Do you prefer cow or goat milk? Sheep or water buffalo? How about camel, yak, or moose? You might want to try donkey or reindeer . . . Cheese is one of the most popular foods in the world. You can eat it straight, melt it, spice it, or add it to endless recipes. Where the milk comes from and how the cheese is produced affects the flavor, texture, and intensity. You can make it mild

What’s your favorite? Sharp cheddar or pepper jack? Honey gouda or cave-aged gruyere? American or Swiss? Imagine the cheese that you’re eating was first made nearly 8,000 years ago. People ate cheese before they started to record history. That’s a long time ago. No one knows where cheese originated but it was probably from a lot of different places at the same time. Let’s go back to the prehistoric Neolithic world, about 12,000 years ago. After the end of the

What in the world is choux? Choux is a unique dough made from butter, water, flour, and eggs. There’s no baking powder, soda, or yeast. The dough is mixed and piped into long, finger-like shapes and baked at a high temperature. The steam inside makes it rise. The end result is a hollow golden shell, ready to be filled. Choux is an old-world pastry that can be traced back to Catherine de Medici, Queen of France (1547-1559) who wanted to