Apples
An apple a day!
Apples date back at least 10,000 years and come from Kazakhstan. Through natural selection, apples kept getting better. Humans and wild animals would grab the largest and sweetest fruits and would spread the seeds as they traveled.
The fruit made its way to Europe around 3,500 years ago, where it was both eaten and fermented into cider.
The Basques brought apples to the New World, and by the 17th Century, the trees were everywhere.
Apples are extreme heterozygotes. To grow a specific breed, you have to use a cutting from a tree. If you plant a seed, chances are you won’t get the apple you started with.
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Apricot
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It’s one of the most widely-eaten stone fruits. Get ready for a lot.. about the apricot!
The apricot has a fascinating history that dates back thousands of years. It’s believed to have originated in China over 4,000 years ago and is considered a symbol of happiness and good fortune. It was later cultivated in the region that is modern-day Armenia before spreading to what is now Iran and throughout the Mediterranean. It was prized by the ancient Romans, and was cultivated in much of southern Europe. Spanish explorers would eventually introduce the apricot to the Americas in the 1700s. Today, nutrition experts say the apricot is good for digestion and eye health.
Bacon
It’s defined American breakfast for generations. But what exactly is bacon?
Bacon is a type of cured meat.. typically made from pork bellies or backs. As long as 4,000 years ago, the Chinese preserved pork bellies in salt. But the word bacon comes from the Old German word bakko, meaning back. Even the ancient Romans served it with eggs and toast for breakfast, like we do today.
In the 12th Century, a church in England promised a side of bacon to any married man who hadn’t argued with his wife for a year and a day. Thus was born a husband who could bring home the bacon.
Today, you can find bacon made from beef, and even plants. Though the old standby pork bacon reigns supreme.
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Bagels
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You might get yours with a schmeer. But do you know the history of the bagel?
The bagel was born in Jewish communities in Poland during the 16th Century. Originally called a beugel in German (meaning stirrup because that was its original shape), its eventual circular shape and chewy texture have made it iconic, worldwide. Bakers say the hole helps the dense dough bake evenly.
Betcha didn’t know a bagel’s ingredients are almost identical to soft pretzels, and they first made their way to New York City in the late 1800s. The Lender family built one of the first bagel bakeries in the 1920s in nearby Connecticut. However, bagel lovers insist only a bagel made with New York water truly cuts the cream cheese.
Beef
Burger places would be lost without it.
Beef. For 10,000 years, humans have lived as hunter-gatherers. And cows have been among the most-hunted animals.
Humans in Europe, Africa and Asia all began domesticating cows around the same time. The animal made its way to the New World with Columbus’ second voyage when it was brought to Mexico. Then in 1611, the English brought herds of cattle to the Jamestown Colony.
Until the Civil War, cows were used for butter, milk, and leather. After, as more Americans headed west, cattle became the industry of choice as food crops were harder to grow. Today, beef is second only to poultry as the most-consumed meat in America.
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Beer
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You probably think this drink originated in Germany.. think again!
Beer is at least 12,000 years old. Historians believe it was first brewed in what is modern day Iran.
5,000 years ago, the Babylonians developed recipes for at least 20 different beers and considered it a sign of wealth.
3,500 years ago, the Egyptians made beer less bitter, flavoring it with honey.. and would use it as pay for their workers.
Beer then made its way to Greece and Rome.. but now, was thought to be a commoner’s drink as wine was widely accepted to be a gift from the gods.
In the Middle Ages, monks in Germany and England produced lots of the drink and its popularity has grown to this day.
Black Pepper
It’s salt’s best buddy!
Black pepper has its origins along the Malabar coast of India, where it’s been used in cooking for over 4,000 years. The word derives from the Latin piper but is not at all related to peppers that we eat, such as bell peppers. It’s actually a stonefruit - a seed protected by a shell, encased in a fruit - not unlike a tiny plum.
Black pepper was widely used in Eastern medicine, and contains the compound piperine, known to cause sneezing. Buddhists used it to treat insomnia and sunburn.
The spice first made its way to Greece about 2,400 years ago and permanently transformed cuisines around the world.
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Bourbon
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There are at least a dozen different types of hard liquor in the world, but only one is distinctly American!
Bourbon is a uniquely American whiskey that only received official Congressional recognition in 1964. To be called Bourbon, a whiskey must be made in a US state or territory, must be barrel-aged and made from at least 51% corn.
It’s been distilled since the 1700s, but the name Bourbon wasn’t used until the 1850s.
Whether you take yours neat, diluted, or in a cocktail.. you won’t be alone. Bourbon accounts for over a quarter of all whiskey sold to the tune of more than $4 billion dollars a year.
Bread
Give us this day our daily.. pita!
Bread is one of the oldest and most common foods in the world. Its origins trace back to ancient times, when people mixed ground grains of wheat with water to create a simple dough. Over time, the recipe evolved as people experimented with different ingredients.
The first breads were flat, similar to today's pita and naan. Egyptians and Greeks baked bread in clay ovens. Risen bread came about as natural yeasts in the air settled into dough as it was resting. Eventually, bread became an important staple across many cultures as trade developed. In the U-S alone, more than 15 billion pounds of bread gets consumed every year.
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Cereal
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It’s such a popular breakfast food, we named a bowl after it.
Breakfast cereal as we know it was born in 1863 when a religious vegetarian created something called granula. Word got to another religious vegetarian, John Harvey Kellogg, who named his version granola, and served it at his sanitarium, touting it as a cure for everything from mood swings to acne.
Kellogg’s brother Will came up with a cereal recipe involving corn and sugar that became so popular, he took over the business.
Around 1910, the Quaker Oats Company invented Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice, followed by Minnesota’s General Mills and their Cheeri-Oats, which was renamed Cheerios just as America entered World War 2.
Champagne
All champagne is bubbly wine, but not all bubbly wine is champagne.
Champagne is the famous, sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of France. The history of Champagne dates back to the 17th Century when it was created accidentally through a second fermentation in the bottle.
It wasn’t until the 19th Century that champagne became a popular luxury drink among French aristocrats. Other countries also produce some pretty good sparkling wines - there’s the Italian Prosecco and the Spanish Cava - but unless the product comes from France’s Champagne region, the bottle of bubbly can only say it is made in the “methode Champenoise”.. or the method used in the famous French district.
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Cheddar
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You couldn’t have mac & cheese without it!
Cheddar is the second-most consumed cheese in America.. and it’s been around since the 12th Century.
It was first made in Cheddar, England. Legend says a girl milked a cow and accidentally left behind a pail of milk which turned into the cheese. Royalty tried it, and it became all the rage.
Did you know there’s no flavor difference between orange cheddar and white? Centuries ago, it was the cows’ diet that tinted their milk orange. Today, companies add food coloring as a throwback.
Like mild cheddars? They’re aged a few months.. while the extra sharp stuff could be aged up to 5 years.
Cheese
It’s ooey and gooey.. where would we be without cheese?
There’s evidence that humans were making cheese as far back as 10,000 years ago as we began domesticating milk-producing animals.
People would store milk in the stomachs of certain animals. Those stomachs contains an enzyme called rennet which caused milk to coagulate, forming curds.. which then got salted to preserve them.. and cheese was born.
By the dawn of the Roman Empire, cheese making was widespread in Europe and the Middle East, but it wasn’t until the last 500 years that favorites like cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan.. were created. Cheese finally made its way to the New World with the Puritans in the 17th Century.
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Chicken Parm
Chicken parmigian.. or "chicken parm".. one of America's favorite comfort foods.. wasn't originally made with chicken OR parmigian cheese.
Chicken Parmigian actually ORIGINATED in the Northeast U-S about 100 years ago when Italian immigrants arrived with a recipe for EGGPLANT parmigian. Eggplant slices were fried in a coating of flour and egg and layered with tomato sauce and mozzarella. The word parmigian merely identified the Italian city, Parma, where the eggplant dish was popular.. and not the famous cheese. When the immigrants got here.. eggplant was hard to find.. but chicken was everywhere.. and it was affordable! Chicken parm may have caught on here.. but even today.. it’s almost impossible to find in Italy.
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