Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.― Henry Ford
This is a scenario that you might relate to, you open the refrigerator full of leftovers and wonder which one to liberate that night. One by one, you begin compiling scraps of meat, vegetable, and condiments, into a large pot, and in no time, half the fridge is empty. And you have for yourself something that resembles a meatloaf stew.
On any other given day, we might not consider giving it a second look, but not today. Out of sheer curiosity, but mostly hunger, you taste a spoonful straight from the pot, and what do you know, there's a new comfort food in town, and it tastes amazing!
So, the next time you panic over a recipe gone wrong, remind yourself that there are many foods that you gorge on or guzzle down that were made accidentally. This post contains a list of popular foods that were invented by accident.
Beer
Invented by: Ancient Mesopotamians
When: Around 2050 BCE.
History: The ancient Mesopotamians stumbled on the recipe to make beer when they stored their grains in poorly constructed spaces.
These spaces, often damp, caused the grains to ferment. Fermentation thus resulted in the early versions of beer.
Brandy
Invented by: Dutch vintners
When: 16
th century
History: Back in the sixteenth century, wine was a popular trading commodity. Dutch traders found an innovative way to remove water from wine in order to ship larger quantities in limited cargo space. They would boil the wine and remove the water content from it, thereby reducing its volume. Once transported, they would add water back to the wine concentrate at the distillery in Holland.
Back then this dehydrated wine was called
bradwijn or
burned wine, which later became
brandy.
Champagne
Invented by: Unknown
When: Late 1600s
History: The Champagne region of France has a cooler climate, which directly affects the fermentation process of wine. Wine makers would bottle the grape juice over the winter and restart the fermentation once the climate turned warmer. This led to the formation of bubbles in the wine, which at that time was an absolute no-no.
The formation of bubbles were considered to be an indication of inferior wine and a serious problem that had to be eliminated. In fact these sparkly wines were nicknamed
devil wine and
cork popper as the bottles would explode or pop the cork. Wine makers like Dom Pérignon worked hard to eliminate these bubbles, but failed, though they did refine its taste and color. But as luck would have it, this bubbling wine that was considered inferior in its day, was a hit among the elite and royalty. And since then, its popularity has only soared and never quite ebbed.
Cheese Puffs
Invented by: The Flakall Company of Beloit, Wisconsin
When: 1930s
History: Contrary to popular belief, cheese puffs are not made with cheese. They are actually made from corn.
Story has it that workers poured moistened corn kernels into a machine that was used to crush grains for animal feed, to reduce clogging. As the machine worked it got so hot that the moist and crushed corn came out as puffs which hardened as soon as they came in contact with the air. One of the workers took them home added some oil and seasoning to it and made them into cheese puffs.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Invented by: Toll House Inn's, Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield
When: 1930s
History: Mrs. Wakefield wanted to make batch of chocolate cookies for her guests. But she discovered that she had run out of cooking chocolate.
Hoping that chocolate would melt with the heat of the oven, she broke semi-sweet chocolate into small chunks and added it to the cookie dough. Her plan backfired and the chocolate chunks did not melt, but retained their shape, thus making the first batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Coca-Cola
Invented by: John Pemberton
When:1886
History: John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, created a coke-flavored syrup which he took to his neighborhood pharmacy, where he mixed carbonated water to it. And voila! The first batch of Coca-Cola was ready for its customers. Prior to Pemberton's death, his creation had become the world's first popular sparkling beverage.
Asa Candler, a businessman from Atlanta, bought the recipe from Pemberton and took it to a whole new level.
A couple of years later Joseph Biedenharn installed a bottling plant and thus began the trend of bottled Coca-Cola.
Crêpes Suzette
Invented by: Henri Charpentier
When: 1895
History: Fourteen-year-old Henri Charpentier, a French waiter at Monte Carlo, was preparing a dessert for Prince of Wales Edward VII. Charpentier accidentally set fire to the sauce. Unable to redo the dessert again, he served it as is to the future King and his friends.
The Prince and his company devoured it and christened it as
Crepes Princesse, and later, the Prince renamed it Crepes Suzette.
Ice Cream Cones
Invented by: Arnold Fornachou and Syrian Ernest Hamwi
When: 1904
History: At the St. Louis World Fair in 1904, Arnold Fornachou was selling ice cream, when he ran out of ice cream cups. Luckily for him, Syrian concessionaire Ernest Hamwi came to his rescue.
Hamwi rolled up the waffle-like pastry that he was selling and gave it to Fornachou to use as a cup. This innovative waffle cone idea became an instant hit.
Kellogg's Cereals
Invented by: Will Kellogg and John Harvey Kellogg
When: 1898
History: Will and John Kellogg were attempting to make granola for their patients. When they accidentally let the boiled wheat go stale. The dough hardened and cracked into pieces. In an attempt to experiment with their new discovery, they toasted the dehydrated flakes of corn and created Kellogg's cornflakes.
Nachos
Invented by: Ignacio Anaya
When: 1943
History: Ignacio Anaya, nicknamed Nacho, was a maître d' at a restaurant called Victory Club, in Piedras Negras, Mexico. In attempts to feed his hungry and demanding new customers, he had to improvise with what he had since his chef went missing. And so, he covered a plate of tostadas with grated cheese, passed it through a broiling unit which melted the cheese, and garnished it with jalapeños.
His customers loved it so much that they named it after
Nacho's especiale, i.e.
Nacho's special, which was later shortened to Nachos.
Popsicles
Invented by: Frank Epperson
When: 1905
History: 11-year-old Frank left powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick in a cup on the porch, overnight. The cold weather did the trick and turned the flavored water into the first ever Popsicle. Frank fondly named it the
Epsicle.
Later, in 1924, he applied for a patent for his creation and eventually changed its name to
Popsicle.
Potato Chips
Invented by: Chef George Crum
When: 1853
History: Chef George Crum was being pestered by a customer at Saratoga Springs' Moon Lake House. The customer sent back batches after batches of fried potatoes, complaining that they weren't thin enough.
Tired of this customer's complaints, he sliced the potatoes razor thin, fried and salted them, and served them to his customer. His plan to annoy the customer backfired, the customer loved them instead.
Sandwich
Invented by: John Montagu, 4
th Earl of Sandwich
When: 1700s
History: Legend has it, that Montagu was in the middle of an intense gambling game, so he requested the meat to brought to him, placed in between two pieces of bread, so that he could avoid continue with his game and not break for lunch or dinner. And thus, a sandwich was born!
Tofu
Invented by: Unknown
When: Unknown
History: There are many legends behind the origin of tofu. One legend has it that boiled and ground soybeans were mixed with some sea salt containing calcium and magnesium salts, thus curdling the soybean into soybean gel.
While another story suggests that a cook accidentally dropped nigari (natural coagulant) into a pot of soybean milk, curdling it and making tofu.
Worcestershire Sauce
Invented by: Lord Marcus Sandys
When: 1838
History: On returning home to England after retiring as ex-governor of Bengal province of British India, Lord Sandys craved for Indian food and sauces. He commissioned two drugstore owners Perrins and Lea to recreate the base purely on his descriptions.
The end result was a stinky sauce. The stench of it turned out to be too repulsive to sell. And so, he stashed the batch in his cellar for two years. Aging the sauce altered its odor and taste, creating the first ever batch of Worcestershire sauce.
Yogurt
Invented by: Unknown
When: Around 5,000 BCE.
History: Yogurt has a somewhat disgusting origin, luckily for us, the yogurt making process has far changed since then.
It is believed that yogurt has its origins when man began domesticating animals and learned how to extract milk. Back then, milk was transported in sacks made from the stomach lining of animals. The bacteria present in the stomach coagulated the milk and made it into yogurt.
The next time you feel burdened to make a meal and find yourself reaching for your cookbook, try winging it. You never know, you might just cook-up something which might just be the next big thing.
