Breakfast cereals have taken over kitchen cupboards and been spooned into morning mouths for more than 150 years – though the way they look and taste has varied dramatically over the years. The first manufactured cereal, Granula, was invented by Dr James C. Jackson of Dansville, New York state, in 1863, and it was so tough on the teeth it needed soaking overnight. Things looked up when John Kellogg launched Corn Flakes in 1895.
The golden, crispy flakes were originally intended to be bland and encourage Americans to live a pure life. Instead they sparked countless cereal thrillers from the arguably more fun Rice Krispies, launched in 1928, and Cheerios to childhood favourites like Cap’n Crunch and Froot Loops. Some have come and gone (Smurf-Berry Crunch, anyone?) but cereal completely changed the choices – and convenience – of breakfast.
Read more about the most popular cereals from the decade you were born
Potatoes themselves are one of the most incredible foods that changed the world, with a history and significance stretching back millennia – and contradictory theories about where they originally came from (Peru and Chile are the frontrunners). French fries have had a similar impact on our eating habits – and similar controversy over their origins. Some food historians believe they were invented in Belgium in the 17th century while another theory is that Thomas Jefferson’s French chef served the president chipped potatoes, creating the term French fries.
Whatever the truth, fries – or chips, depending on where you’re from – are a keystone in many dishes and combinations. Fish and chips, burgers and fries, hotdogs and fries, pie and chips, cheesy chips, pizza fries… It’s hard to imagine food, especially takeaway, fast food and comfort food dishes, without them. They’ve seen many incarnations and variations through the years, too, from microwaved chips and curly fries to fat, triple-cooked slabs served with steak.
Fries, according to legend, are the reason crisps or potato chips exist, too. The story goes that, in 1853, Cornelius Vanderbilt sent his French fries back to the kitchen at Moon’s Lake House restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York, for being cut too thick. His waiter, George Crum, took exception and prepared another batch – making sure they were as thin and hard as possible. The tale has been dismissed as a myth but the restaurant became famous as the home of the Saratoga chip – and snacking has never been the same.
The ice cream cone is such a sunny day (or any day, really) classic that it’s hard to imagine a time when the only way to eat those scoops of creamy cold stuff was with a spoon. But the idea was once beyond the wildest imaginations. There’s some contention over who invented the edible containers and when exactly waffles and wafers first held ice cream rather than just decorating it, but the most widely held is that it happened at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.
Like many of the best and most delicious inventions, this is a story of something brilliant emerging from necessity and, apparently, by accident. Ice cream vendor Charles E. Menches was trading next to Ernest A. Hamwi, who was selling Syrian pastries called zalabia. When Menches ran out of dishes, Hamwi saved him by rolling one of the wafer-like waffle pastries into a cone shape – and the rest is sweet, creamy history.
Nothing says family meal in the US as succinctly as meatloaf, which began life as a terrine-like take on scrapple, a mix of pork and cornmeal dating back to the 1800s. It rose to legendary status in the 1940s, when the neat, sliceable loaves were a favourite substitute for a whole-joint roast (not so sure about this Campbell’s bundt meatloaf, though). Whether made with prime cuts of mince or leftovers, it remains a comfort-food favourite today – delicious drowned in gravy and accompanied by ladlefuls of mashed potato.
Food has been preserved by canning in glass jars and bottles since the 18th century and sealed into tin cans since 1810, a system patented by Englishman Peter Durand who later supplied canned food to the Royal Navy. Among the foods that have been tinned over the years, though, few are so iconic – and so loved/hated – as Spam. It was invented in 1937 as a way to use up pork shoulder, then an unpopular cut, and became hugely popular in wartime kitchens.
It proved a cheap and convenient way to ship meat to the front lines and quickly became associated with the war effort, as a staple food among rations of US and other Allied troops. In home kitchens it was used in everything from spaghetti dinners to breakfasts, with adverts encouraging people to try Spam ’n’ pancakes, Spam ’n’ eggs, Spam ’n’ butter beans, Spam ’n’ beans…
If there’s one tinned food that’s even more iconic than Spam, it’s baked beans. It’s thought the beans we know today have their origins in dishes cooked by Native Peoples in northeast America. The dish of navy beans, maple syrup, venison meat and, sometimes, bear fat was cooked in earthenware pots and is similar to the later Boston baked beans, made with molasses and pork fat, which was first tinned in the 1860s.
Pennsylvania-based HJ Heinz Company (founded by Henry Heinz) started mass production of tinned baked beans in the late 19th century and introduced them to the rest of the world (including the UK, via posh London department store Fortnum & Mason). They’re still a classic, from a BBQ side dish and breakfast staple to a topper of baked potatoes and toast.
Chicken tikka masala is one of the UK’s most popular dishes and it’s claimed to have been invented at a curry house in Glasgow. According to Ali Ahmed Aslam, founder of Shish Mahal, a customer complained that a chicken tikka dish was “too dry” in 1970. Aslam came up with an inventive solution, throwing in a can of tomato soup, some yogurt and extra spices.
It was a hit and soon became the restaurant’s most popular dish. There are other theories as to the mildly spicy, creamy chicken dish’s origins, with some contending that it was invented in the British Raj, with sauce added to curry for unaccustomed palates. Others suggest it’s a variation of a traditional Punjabi recipe. Its influence, though, can’t be denied – it remains one of the UK’s best-loved meals and was declared a national dish in 2012.
Heinz’s 1876-launched version is probably the most famous but ketchup – or something like it – has been bringing sweet and sour, tart and tangy flavours to tables for far longer. For millennia, in fact. The name comes from the Chinese ke-tsiap, an ancient sauce made with fermented fish and used primarily for seasoning. In the 17th century it drew the attention of English sailors and attempts to replicate it introduced oysters, anchovies, walnuts and mushrooms.
It was in America, though, that tomatoes were introduced and eventually became the main ingredient. The first known recipe was published in 1812 by Philadelphia scientist and horticulturalist James Mease. It was Heinz’s collaboration with Dr Harvey Washington Wiley, though, that perfected the recipe using ripe tomatoes with natural preservatives, reducing the amount of vinegar needed – and creating a tastier sauce. It’s hard to imagine fries – or a fridge door – without it.
Speaking of ketchup… One of its favourite places to hang out must be on top of a hamburger and squashed into a bun. Hamburgers are about as American as foods get – except they may not have actually been invented in the US. The idea of putting a ground meat patty in a bread roll (brötchen) is believed to have been brought over from Hamburg by German immigrants. In terms of its popularity and cultural significance, though, it’s as American as apple pie – and a game-changer in trends towards fast food.
There’s evidence that the salted and fermented cabbage kimchi existed in Korea around 1,500 years ago and it’s still a fundamental part of South Korea’s culture and national identity. More recently, the spicy condiment, made with vegetables from carrots to radishes, has risen to global popularity, challenging palates less used to fermented flavours and umami tastes.
So many foods have been invented as a way to use up leftovers and, in a way, TV dinners follow the trend. Swanson Foods had misjudged the amount of turkey it would sell for Thanksgiving in 1953 and staff members were asked to come up with suggestions of how to use up the excess – 235,868kg (520,000lbs) of poultry. The winning idea, from salesperson Gerry Thomas (although it’s been claimed it was actually the Swanson brothers’ idea), was to sell frozen turkey dinners.
The meat was sold in foil trays with separate compartments for potatoes and veg, like airplane meals but repackaged as TV dinners. Frozen and microwave meals had been around for a while, but Swanson was the first company to use the term and capitalise on the growing number of Americans who owned TVs. The idea took off and the company sold more than 10 million dinners within a year and expanded its offerings to include meatloaf, Salisbury steak and fried chicken. Eating in front of the telly became acceptable – and we’ve never looked back.
People have long known about the magic qualities of chocolate, with cacao beans once used as currency in Latin America. Maya, Aztec and Toltec people believed the beans had divine qualities and consumed it in liquid form at ceremonies and events. The word itself has been traced back to the Aztec word xocoatl. Conquistadors took a sweetened version of the drink and cocoa’s popularity spread throughout Europe in the 17th century.
Chocolate production began in the American colonies in the 18th-century and, after several developments in the way beans were processed, English company J. S. Fry & Sons produced the first solid bar for eating in 1847, combining cocoa butter with chocolate liquor and sugar to produce a sweeter, biteable bar that became the base of most eating chocolates sold today. Nearly 30 years later, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter created milk chocolate by adding dried milk to the mix.
Condensed or evaporated milk – milk that has been evaporated to thicken it, then sweetened – didn’t just change the world in the kitchen. It was practically a wartime hero, prized as a field ration during the US Civil War and the two World Wars thanks to its high fat, protein and sugar content. Outside of the war effort, it’s a dab hand at making banoffee and Key lime pie, whipping up easy cheesecakes and as a substitute for caramel or dulce de leche.
Bread has been a staple since prehistoric times and most cultures and communities have some versions of the baked dough. So it must have been hard to see how it could have been improved. Until someone, somewhere decided: why not slice it before selling it? The first pre-sliced loaves to go on sale were produced in July 1928 with a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, a jeweller, and sold in a bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri.
Wonder was among the first major brands to distribute sliced loaves in 1930. This newfangled way with bread wasn’t an instant hit, but after a brief period during the Second World War, when slicing machines were deemed a waste of steel, absence made bellies grow fonder and the invention finally took off. Today, while there’s still something satisfying about tearing a hunk of sourdough or a crispy baguette with your hands, it’s hard to imagine a world – or baked goods display – without pre-sliced loaves.