Schnitzel History:

The chicken schnitzel is a very popular dish in Jewish homes but in reality it is a variation of the Weiner Schnitzel. The Weiner schnitzel is a Viennese veal cutlet and is a very popular dish amongst the Austrians. There are those who say the Viennese actually got this recipe from the Italians, so who knows? The point is that recipes have always been borrowed from different places around the world and usually adapted to its new location.

Salad History:

The word salad comes from the French word “salade” meaning the same thing, and in Latin it’s “salata” which means salty. When reading about the origins of this dish, I found out that ancient Romans and Greeks would eat salad with vinegar oil and herbs. The debate in those days was whether it is healthier to eat salad before or after the main course. Some said that the vinegar destroyed the taste of wine and should be eaten last, while others said that it should be eaten first because raw vegetables would digest very quickly. Later on, the salad lost its popularity because people thought that raw vegetables belonged in animal feed and that it had no nutritional value for humans. It was only three hundred years ago that people began to warm up to the idea of salads and in the turn of the 19^th century it became quite popular in America. Today, salads are a staple of our diets and we are all aware of the wonderful nutritional value that vegetables hold for our health and development.

Potato History:

The word “potato” was somehow derived from the Caribbean Indian word for sweet potato, “batata,” and then from the Spanish word,”patata.” It originated in Peru, South America, and it developed in a region that has fluctuating temperatures and poor soil conditions. The South Americans began cultivating the potato 7000 years ago, while the Europeans only did so in the 1500s. The Spanish were the next ones too use potatoes but mainly as food for the underprivileged. In 1780 Ireland adopted the potato and realized its great nutritional value as a main source of sustenance, more so than any other vegetable. Thomas Jefferson grew potatoes in the 1700’s, and in 1836 the potato was planted in Idaho by Indians, and Idaho soon became famous for their fabulous Idaho potatoes. 

Soup History

“Emma Ewing,” wrote the first American cooking pamphlet focusing on soups in 1882, and she said that soups are: “convenient, economic and healthful.” But people began eating soups long before her pamphlet appeared. Soup was first known as either broth or pottage and it was poured over either toast or bread. The word soup evolved from the French word “sope” and “supper.” People would sop up the bread covered in liquid and it was the main ingredient in the dish. Early proof of soup recipes could be found from approximately the 1400’s only after waterproof pots were invented. Boiling the food proved a useful tool for getting the most out of either an animal or plant that was eaten. For instance, the bones in animals could be used in a soup and when boiling grains they would release starches which would thicken the soup. There have been recipes found dating back to the Turkish Empire in 1454 and also to Medieval England. Back then they used to eat their soup by drinking it from a bowl but mainly by pulling large chunks of meat or vegetables by hand.

Canned Tuna History

For centuries, fish has been caught and eaten by man, and salmon has been the most popular fish to catch and eat. The history of canned fish is relatively new; only one hundred years ago tuna was not the fish of choice amongst Americans; it was the sardine fish that was extremely popular. Nevertheless, when Californian fishermen were having a hard time supplying the demands of sardines, they began fishing for tuna. In 1903 a Southern Californian canner, decided to can the tuna instead of the sardines, and sure enough, this fish caught on and very quickly replaced the demand for sardines. In fact, by 1954, the United States became a world leader in canned tuna production.

Unfortunately in the process of catching the tuna, many dolphins would end up in the nets, and as a result of this practice a large number have perished. The good news is that since the inception of the “Marine Mammal Protection Act” of 1972, and the 1990 “Dolphin Safe” labeling campaign, canned tuna is produced without harming the dolphin population.

Shakshukah History

Shakshukah was originally known as Chakchouka, a Berber word meaning a vegetable ragout. The Berbers are the aboriginal people of Tunisia. The Shakshukah is eaten in most Middle Eastern countries, and not necessarily as a breakfast food, but rather at any time of the day. Israel, which is a melting pot of immigrants from all over the world, has turned this recipe into one of its staple foods. The Israelis’ adapted the word Chakshukah to their own Hebrew language, and that is how Shakshukah came into being, meaning to shake it all up.  In Jaffa, Israel there is a restaurant called “Dr. Shakshukah,” where the owner is known for his great Shakshukah, but I have not yet experienced it. There are those who add spicy sausage and spicy peppers to this dish, and this is exactly how my family members like their Shakshuka, hot and spicy.

Apple Crumble History:

This traditional American recipe belongs to the early European Settlers. The recipe evolved from the English cobbler desserts. In fact, in America, the Apple Crumble was actually called Apple Crisp, and it usually involved seasonal fruit with a finer but crispy topping. The Settlers had to use the ingredients that were available to them in America as opposed to Europe, and this is exactly how new recipes evolve. The recipe became very popular in the 1920’s by appearing in cookbooks and the newspaper.

History of Macaroni and Cheese

There is plenty of proof that pasta in general was enjoyed by different cultures over a period of thousands of years.  The Arabs are actually the inventors of Macaroni and only later it was adopted by the Sicilian/Italian culture. By the 14^th century Macaroni became one of the most popular foods in Italy because it was easy to store and it cooked very quickly. In 1787, Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing the first pasta machine to America from one of his stately visits to France. Later on he actually improved the original design and he also came up with many recipes, like the Macaroni pie or what we know as baked macaroni and cheese. In this early recipe the macaroni was cooked and then mixed together with melted butter, salt and grated cheese and then it was placed in the oven for an extra 15 minutes.

Macaroni and cheese gained its greatest popularity when it was introduced as a ready made and packaged food item by Kraft foods in 1937. Since then it has become one of the most popular foods in America and appears in numerous versions especially in Southern cookbooks.

History of Baba Ghanouj

Baba Ghanouj is a mashed eggplant dish, and its origin is believed to have been in Lebanon. In Arabic baba means father and ghanouj means spoiled, so the dish is called “spoiled father.” It was given this name because you immediately become spoiled beacuse of the unique flavors of this dish.  These days, Baba Ghanouj has become an international dish and it’s not only Middle Eastern countries who have adopted it as their mainstay starter, but rather it is served all over the world. There are those who prepare it with tehina sauce mixed into the eggplant and then there are those who prefer mayonnaise. Both ways make for an exquisite taste.

History of Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chinese cuisine uses a variety of ingredients and cooking methods that are very different from other cultures. Their own food and recipes vary according to the different Chinese regions, but generally speaking their basic diet consists mainly of rice and vegetables. Sweet and Sour chicken recipes in Western countries are not exactly what you would find in China. Usually the Chinese use the sweet and sour flavor for fish recipes rather than for chicken. Also, the Chinese, unlike the Americans, do not drown their food in the sauce; rather they serve it on the side for dipping. The sweet and sour recipes for fish are associated with the region of Hunan in China. The recipes that we use in America do however combine the classical combination of the five flavors of: sweet, sour, salty, pungent and bitter. The Chinese do not use as much sweet as we do, and their recipes tend to be more on the bitter side; to create the sweet and sour flavor they mostly mix vinegar with sugar. It is believed that the authentic cuisine of China developed during the Manchus Dynasty of 1644-1911; they introduced a life of decadence and leisure, where food became an important feature in their three day long Imperial Banquets. For the Chinese, food is treated with utmost respect, and is associated with health, luck and prosperity.

History of chocolate:

The Cacao tree was discovered over 2,000 years ago in Southern and Central America, and the chocolate that we know today, has gone through many transformations throughout the centuries. Theobroma Cacao is the scientific name for the cocoa bean, and it also means food for the gods. In fact the Aztec and Mayan people actually believed that the Cacao tree was given to them by Quetzalcoal, the feathered snake god, and that the Cacao bean has magical powers. The Cacao tree produces pods containing pulp covered seeds that were then dried, and processed into chocolate. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma used to drink something called xcolatl, a bitter mixture of the Cacao bean with chili and other ingredients. The Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortez in 1519 sent the Cacao bean and the Xcolati recipe back to Spain. The Spanish added sugar to the drink and kept their recipe a secret for about 100 years, until it finally spread throughout Europe. Only the very wealthy could afford this luxury drink because Cacao and sugar were both very expensive imports. In 1675 the first Cocoa house opened in London, where people would still only drink chocolate, and it was only in the 1700’s when the steam press was invented that it was easier to grind the Cacao bean, and this made the price of Cacao more affordable. In 1847 it was the English who came up with the more solid fondant like chocolate, replacing the more coarse grained chocolate. The recipe was then perfected even more by the Swiss, when they added milk to it. America’s first chocolate factory was built in 1780, where John Hana, an Irish chocolate maker and Dr. James Baker, made the famous Baker’s chocolate.

History of Nutella

Americans first fell in love with Nutella when it was imported into the U.S. in the 1980’s. Nutella is a creamy, chocolaty, hazelnut spread; it was actually created in Italy, in 1867, out of necessity, because of the high price of producing chocolate. This hazelnut and cocoa mixture was originally named “pasta gianduja,” which means the paste of gianduja, the name of the carnival character that was on the first advertisements for the product. It became an instant hit with the Italians. At first the paste was more like a loaf and people had to slice it when putting it in a sandwich. The children would eat the slices of gianduja, but not the bread. Only later on, in the 1940’s, Mr. Pietro Ferrero, improved the product by making it more of a thick spread; it was then known as “Supercrema Gianduja.” In 1964 the product became known as Nutella, and store owners began a special service where children could bring a slice of bread to the store and have it smeared with Nutella. Today there are many variations of the original Nutella spread, but still, Nutella itself remains the most sought after spread, even more than peanut butter. In fact it became so popular in the US that the Ferrero Company has built a Nutella plant in Somerset New-Jersey.

History of Avocados

Avocados have been around for thousands of years, and were first grown in the northern and southern parts of Mexico; also in central America as far as Peru. In fact, Archeologists in Peru have found avocado seeds buried with mummies dating back to 750 B.C. The Spanish conquistadors in the 1500’s were delighted to discover the avocados, they loved the taste of this buttery fruit but they also developed an ink out its pit. They could not pronounce the Aztec word for avocado “ahucatl,” and instead called it aguacate, and this eventually turned into avocado in English. The first avocado trees in the U.S. were grown in California, and they were brought into the U.S from Mexico by Judge R.B Ord from Santa Barbara California. Another noted pioneer was Mr. Rideout who grew many varieties of avocados. The Hass avocado has become the most popular avocado in the U.S. because it is grown all year round and has a wonderful texture and taste. Hass avocados have a rough skin, a small pit and have a very buttery texture. Avocados do not ripen on the tree but rather only after they are picked. The Hass Avocado developed by accident. In 1920, Rudolph Hass, a postman bought some avocado seedlings from Mr. Rideout, and had them grafted with the popular fuerte avocado trees. It is said that one of the trees did not take to the grafting and this became the Hass avocado. Hass got a patent for the tree in 1935 and every Hass avocado tree today is descended from that original tree. Mr. Hass lived to the ripe old age of 98, eating a slice of wheat toast and sliced avocado every single morning for breakfast.

History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

For the history of pasta please read about Mac and Cheese. The first tomato sauce was made by ancient South Americans, and it was very spicy, probably what we now know as salsa. Europe was introduced to the tomato by the New World explorers in the 16^th century, but at first the tomato was regarded as poisonous, and was adopted only as an ornamental fruit rather than food. It was only in the 17^th century that it was included in the Elite European cuisine. In 1839 the first spaghetti with tomato sauce recipe appeared in a Neapolitan cookbook . The Italians named it ‘pomodoro,’ meaning ‘golden apple,’ and once the Italians adopted the tomato for their famous sauce, pasta was no longer eaten cooked without the sauce.

History of the sandwich

In the first century B.C. the famous Rabbi Hillel began a Passover custom of sandwiching the haroset in between two matzoth. However others have argued that this does not represent the sandwich of today because it was made with unleavened bread.

Some believe that the sandwich, before it was coined as a ‘sandwich,’ was known as ‘bread and cheese’ or ‘bread and meat,’ and proof of this exists in plays from the 16^th century. However, the sandwich got it’s name from John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, who lived between 1718 and 1792. Montague was a naval officer who worked with the famous explorer James Cook. In his travels he was exposed to many different culinary experiences, which probably planted the sandwich idea in his head. It is said that Montague was a gambler, and in order to continue gambling undisturbed, he would order a piece of meat tucked in between two slices of bread. Others who saw this began to order the same as Sandwich, and soon enough that turned into ‘I would like to order a sandwich.’ 

When it comes to the grilled sandwich, the earliest ones have been found in ancient Roman cookbooks. In America, grilled cheese sandwiches began to emerge in the 1920’s, just when sliced bread became popular in the markets. At first the sandwich was actually open faced, and only in the 1960’s was the second slice of bread added on top. It was a very inexpensive way to prepare a meal and it caught on rapidly in kitchens all over America.

The Panini Sandwich stemmed from the Italian word ‘panino’ which in Italian means little sandwich. The sandwich consists of high quality bread like focaccia or ciabatta and is then filled with meat, cheese and vegetables with a flavorful condiment and it is then grilled. This type of sandwich became popular in America in the 1970’s.

History of Israeli cuisine

The Israelis have come a long way since the manna that they had to eat in the Sinai desert! Today Israel is a melting pot of Jews who have come from different parts of the world and therefore its cuisine is influenced by these different places. The Middle Eastern flavor is the most dominant of all in Israel because Israel is after all in the Middle East, and is surrounded by Arab countries who have all contributed to its flavorful cooking style. It’s also considered a healthier cuisine because of the use of olive oil instead of butter and the grilling and baking instead of the frying. The Jewish food that people in the west are familiar with is that from Eastern European countries, and it’s what you might normally find in delis. It’s stuff like gefilte fish, Pickled herring, chulnt, latkes, chicken with matzo ball. These foods though would by no means be considered on the light and healthy side! The Kashrut laws (religious dietary laws) have also shaped the eating habits of Israelis. For those who keep Kosher there are a variety of foods that are not permitted for consumption, like pork and shellfish to name a few, and they are also not permitted to mix meat and dairy in the same meal.

Generally speaking Israel has an exciting blend of cuisines and its local produce is fresh and exceptionally tasty. It’s things like fish, dairy products and very flavorful fruits and vegetables and even baked goods. Whether you are eating on the go, from a small roadside food stand or at a gas station (known for their great food) or a sophisticated restaurant, you just can’t go wrong. I love the Israeli breakfasts which arrive on a huge platter with a selection of maybe 5 different freshly baked breads, olives, olive spread, jams, cream cheeses, goat cheese, and that's before you get your eggs.

Yogurt

Yogurt is usually associated with good health and longevity and in places like the Balkans people have been known to live a very long life, over 100 years old because of the large quantities of yogurt that they eat. Yogurt is made from fermented milk, in other words milk that has gone bad, but sometimes bad is actually good. Yogurt was discovered a long time ago when milk was carried in pouches made out of sheep skin, and those pouches contained an enzyme called rennin which together with the hot climate curdled the milk, especially in Middle Eastern counties. This is basically how yogurt was discovered. Yogurt was really only accepted in the United States in the 19th century when the Dannon company introduced yogurt mixed with strawberry preserve.

History of Ceviche

Although in my webisode I did not use fish, originally ceviche is a dish that is prepared with raw fish and its origin is in Peru, a Latin American country. It has spread across to other Latin American countries who have since added their own little touches to this dish. Sometimes it is possible to cook food without using heat, this process is called curing, and it’s exactly what happens with ceviche ; the seafood is cured in lemon juice, although in Peru the lemon that they use is a little different, it’s less sour than the ones that we use here in the States. Ceviche is known as Peru’s national dish.