School is out, the temperatures are soaring, and the lines at the ice cream stand are out the door. It’s a summer rite of passage. In the first decades of the twentieth century, street ice cream was usually sold from pushcarts. The quality (both of raw ingredients and end product) left a lot to be […]

What does that jingle evoke in your mind? Chicken noodle soup and a tuna sandwich (my fave as a teenager)? Tomato soup and grilled cheese? Whatever your favorite, you have John T. Dorrance to thank. Dorrance, Pennsylvania-born and an MIT graduate, received his PhD from the University of Göttingen, having specialized in chemistry, mathematics and […]

Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore. Jules developed the dish due to a shortage of French escargot (snails), substituting the locally plentiful Gulf Shore oysters. The dish was named Oysters Rockefeller after John D. Rockefeller, the then-wealthiest American, for its extreme […]

Many of the foods we love today (and some we hate) debuted or had their hay-day in the 20's. Marketed as innovative, thrifty, and time-saving, these foods promised to revolutionize family life. Gelatin dates back to the 17th century and was traditionally made by boiling the bones and hooves of large animals for long hours, […]