Table Of ContentHow the Hot Dog
Found Its Bun
Accidental Discoveries and
Unexpected Inspirations That Shape
What We Eat and Drink
Josh Chetwynd
illustrations by David Cole Wheeler
For Jennifer and Becca
Copyright © 2012 Josh Chetwynd
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for
permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box
480, Guilford, CT 06437.
Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.
Illustrations: David Cole Wheeler
Text design: Ann Pawlick
Project editor: Julie Marsh
Layout: Maggie Peterson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN 978-0-7627-7750-1
Printed in the United States of America
E-ISBN 978-0-7627-8528-5
Contents
Introduction
Starters and Small Plates
Bisquick: Tardy train traveler
Brown ’n Serve Rolls: Fire alarm discovery
Buffalo Wings: Late night munchies
Caesar Salad: Empty refrigerator
Cheese: Not your average bag
Cobb Salad: Celebrity restaurateur
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes: Distracted, disagreeable brothers
Nachos: Ravenous army wives
Tapas: Fruit flies
Wheaties: Messy cooking
Main Courses
Chicken Marengo: Broken supply line
Chicken Tikka Masala: Fussy customer
Chimichanga: Fryer slip-up
Fettuccine Alfredo: Finicky new mom
Filet-O-Fish: Religious rules
French Dip Sandwich: Extra sauce
Philly Cheesesteak: Hungry hot dog vendor
Sandwiches: Focused gambler
Tempura: Missionaries’ menu
TV Dinners: Overstocked turkeys
Desserts
Chocolate Chip Cookies: Missing ingredient
Chocolate Molten Cake (Chocolate Lava Cake): Celebrity chef flub
Cookies ’n Cream Ice Cream: Short work break
Crêpes Suzette: Clumsy waiter
Granny Smith Apples: Garbage discovery
Rhubarb: Bumbling builders
Tarte Tatin: Ditzy sister
Candies and Snacks
Cheese Puffs: Rabbit food
Chewing Gum: Deposed dictator and a nosy accountant
Doughnuts: Seafaring captain
Graham Crackers: Sex-ruining snack
Jelly Tots: Camera-ready treat
PEZ: Antismoking mint
Pop Rocks: Failed drink additive
Popsicles: Cold night and forgetful kid
Potato Chips: Take-no-guff chef
Pretzels: Holy rewards
Twinkies: Strawberry afterthought
Additives and Extras
Alka-Seltzer: Newspaper discovery
Artificial Sweeteners: Sloppy scientists
Baking Powder: Adoring husband
Corn Starch: Indomitable chemist
Hot Dog Bun: Small carts and glove thieves
Ice-Cream Cone: Debatable world’s fair find
Maple Syrup: Native American domestic clash
Marmalade: Stormy oranges
Mayonnaise: Victory spread
Nutella: Post–World War II austerity
Tabasco Sauce: Civil War epic
Whipped Cream: Student’s failed hypothesis
Worcestershire Sauce: Forgotten barrel
Drinks
Champagne: Devil’s bubbly and a timely pilgrimage
Coca-Cola: Headaches and prohibition
Coffee: Dancing goats
Cognac: Savvy Dutch merchants
Gibson Martini: Wry bartender, ingenious diplomat, or San Francisco pride
Irish Coffee: Dangerous flight
Kool-Aid: Post office complications
Ovaltine: Foul-tasting health drink
Pink Lemonade: Accidental carnival creation
Tea (and Iced Tea): Mystic brew
White Zinfandel: Lucky fermentation
Kitchen Inventions and Innovations
Cellophane: Stained tablecloth
CorningWare: Nuclear warheads
Dishwashers: Klutzy maids
Linoleum: Bedroom paint can
Matches: Unplanned friction
Microwaves: Melting candy bar
Paper Towels: Mistaken delivery
Saran Wrap: After-hours lab worker
S.O.S Pads: Desperate door-to-door salesman
Stainless Steel: From gun contract to utensils
Styrofoam: Wartime insulator
Tea Bags: Sample packaging
Teflon: Guinea pig, refrigerator coolant, and fishing gear
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Sources and Further Reading
About the Author
Introduction
Luck touches every part of our lives. As the Roman poet Ovid once said, “Luck
affects everything; let your hook always be cast. In the stream where you least
expect it, there will be a fish.”
In the culinary world, hearing luck and food in the same sentence isn’t always
a good thing. It can conjure up thoughts like, “You’re lucky you didn’t get sick
from that week-old pizza!” But when it comes to the creation of great dishes,
satisfying drinks, and useful kitchen utensils, it’s a concept that can captivate us.
Consider, if you will, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Back in the 1970s and
1980s, the chocolate-peanut-butter marriage was celebrated with a highly
successful ad campaign featuring two people colliding and their beloved foods
intermingling. Their campy verbal exchange—“You got peanut butter on my
chocolate!” “Your chocolate is in my peanut butter!”—would end with
unintended gastronomic bliss. Decades on, these spots still resonate (for proof,
just check out a parody of the ads on YouTube from the animated comedy series
Family Guy). Why? Because we love happy culinary accidents, and, as it
happens, there’s no shortage of them. Nachos and Popsicles. French dip
sandwiches and potato chips. Microwaves and paper towels.
Luck, in fact, is the resonating theme of this book. It drives so many of those
culinary instances of unforeseen good fortune that have kept our bellies full and
our kitchens running smoothly over the centuries.
Behind these lucky discoveries are usually acts of serendipity, a concept first
coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. He’d read a book about Serendip (modern-
day Sri Lanka) called The Three Princes of Serendip and was fascinated by the
title characters, who “were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity,
of things which they were not in quest of.” Using that quote as a definition, he
started describing some of his work as serendipity.
What makes serendipity so fascinating is the combination of the lucky find
and the smarts (or to use Walpole’s fancier term sagacity) to capitalize on the
breakthrough. As Albert Einstein once said about discovery: “The really
valuable factor is intuition. . . . There is only the way of intuition, which is
helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance.” The intuition to
turn what looks like a blunder into something special comes up often throughout
this book. Take the ever-popular cereal Wheaties for instance. A fella was
cooking up some gruel when a bit dripped onto an open stove, crackling over the
