video — Food History 101

History of Lasagna

In Italy, the dish is referred to as lasagne (plural) as it points to the plurality of the noodles in the dish. Even further back, the word lasagna comes from the Greek word laganon and is known to be the closest thing to pasta that ancient Romans cooked.

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History of Gnocchi

There are many variations of gnocchi in Italy today. In Sorrento, they are served with a tomato sauce and appropriately named gnocchi alla sorrentina, while Venetians have a version they call macaroni, which is made sans potato. But the very first gnocchi came about around the 17th century after the Spanish brought potatoes to Italy.

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History of Buffalo Wings

You’ll never guess where in New York the buffalo wing originated. Did you guess Buffalo? Okay, well then you can guess it. In 1964, Teressa Bellissimo concocted this dish at her family-owned establishment by the name of Anchor Bar. She decided to pair the delectable fried finger food with celery and blue cheese after a two-year gastronomy experiment in the kitchen wherein a sample of 5,000 taste testers confirmed that those three ingredients created the ultimate trifecta of complimentary flavors. Just kidding – she did it because that’s what she had available.

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History of Hummus

Hummus is made from two key ingredients – chickpeas and tahini. Chickpeas has been said to be one of the first legumes to be cultivated, dating back 10,000 years in Turkey. While tahini, a sesame paste, has been documented in Arabic cookbooks as early as the 13th Century.

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History of Cheesecake

If you thought cheesecake originated in New York, allow me to school you. “Cheese cake” dates back to 2,000 BC in Greece and may be even older (except that brings us to a pre-writing point in human history so who knows what those guys were up to). Cheese cake was said to be served to athletes during the very first Olympic games (circa 776 BC) due to the idea that it was a good source of energy. Back then, the average cheese cake was made from cheese, flour, wheat and honey and were also served at Greek weddings.

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History of Banh Mi

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History of Chicken Cordon Bleu

The origin of chicken cordon bleu likely came from a dish called veal kiev, which came about in Paris circa the late 1840s. The dish called for veal dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. It was then adapted in Moscow where veal was swapped for chicken. In the states, veal cordon bleu made its first print appearance in 1955, whereas chicken cordon bleu didn’t follow for another 12 years in 1967.

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History of Nashville Hot Chicken

The origin story of Nashville Hot Chicken is more of a legend than a historical account – making it that much more entertaining. It began with a man by the name of Thornton Prince.

History of the Cheeseburger

To properly chronicle the birth of the cheeseburger, we must first dig into the history of the hamburger. Have a seat kiddos because we are taking this all the way back to the 1st Century AD. The place was Rome and the dish was called Isicia Omentata – minced meat combined with pepper, pine nuts, garum and wine.

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