Five Top Favorites Foods and How They Were Named

The story of how America's favorite food was named has been ground up over the years, but here is true meat of the story. (While I do apologize for the dismally unimaginative puns you are about to be subjected to in the following article, they are necessary if I am ever to realize my dream of seeing this news item on the front page of Yahoo news.)

Way back in 1891 the purser aboard a Hamburg-Amerika Line passenger ship mistakenly received a delivery of prime steaks intended for a ship twice as large as the one he was aboard. They were at sea, bound for New York, when he made the discovery. Fearing the beef would go bad before it could be used (refrigeration was by ice and salt in those days), he ordered his chefs to take the overstock, grind it up, fry it in patties placed on boller buns, and serve them on the deck across all cabin classes as part of each day's afternoon tea service.

They were an instant sensation. The purser permanently added them to the regular menu fare, and dubbed the modest little sandwich the "Hamburger" in honor of the steamship line where they were first served.

A passenger who was the owner of a Bronx eatery recreated the Hamburger hit at his diner and soon had patrons from Manhattan and as far away as New Jersey trekking in on the subway for a taste of the ground-up steak on a bun. (Ironically, the name of the café owner was McDonald, and he had a daughter named Wendy!)

2. Caesar Salad

This delectable summer treat was invented on the fly by a celebrity chef who was the Emeril Lagasse of his day, Caesar Cardini. The story goes that the food supplies in Cardini's restaurant in his Tijuana hotel ran short on the Fourth of July weekend in 1924. "Take everything to the table" he said, "and make a ceremony of fixing a big salad. Let guests think they're having the specialty of the house." Later it was voted "the greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in fifty years" by the International Society of Epicures in Paris. One wonders if he used Romanov dressing on that first day, and if he fed any leftovers to the lions.

3. Hot Dog

Like most popular culture catch-phrases, the term "Hot Dog" emerged from the college scene (this time at Yale University in the 1890's). A butcher who relished the idea (pun; sorry...) of making a few bucks from the local college kids ground up all the "leftover parts" from the day, added his own unique spice blend, turned them into sausages that were the length of his day-old bread rolls, and wandered the dorms selling his "treats" to the late night study crowd. The kids began to joke about the probable origin of the warm sausage rolls and the rest is Hot Dog History!

4. Buffalo Wings

Don't be buffaloed (pun alert!) by this one: No, they're not made from Buffalo meat! (Last I checked Buffalo can't fly.) This story is as straightforward as they come. The owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y. threw together a quick snack for her son and his hungry college buddies when they dropped in unexpectedly one night after the bar closed. Everybody loved them, so she tried out her new recipe on the clientele the next day and the word spread.

5. Chicken Fried Steak

Speaking of chicken, there are a lot of folks out there who believe chicken fried steak is, well, made of chicken. It's not; it's made from beef steak (usually a lower grade of beef) that is covered and deep fried in a typical chicken-style breading. But to really confuse the subject, there is a Southern dish called Fried Chicken Steak which is a flattened boneless butterflied chicken breast (say that five times fast... Unless you're chicken!) that is dipped in batter, deep fried in about a gallon of trans-fats, and served with heaping masses of mashed potatoes and creamy country gravy. Well, at least it's made from white meat (which is supposed to be a little healthier than dark meat...), and I guess it could be argued that potatoes are a vegetable? I'll leave you to wrestle with this one. I've got some celery and a jar of peanut butter waiting for me.