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History of Watermelon

Nothing says delicious quite like a sweet, juicy watermelon. The thought of one for many people brings back memories of summer picnics where you could bite into the bright, mouthwatering flesh of this thirst-quenching treat. A popular fruit enjoyed around the world, the watermelon provides nutrients to those who eat it. Important as a food staple worldwide, it found its ways to different regions around the globe. Looking into the history of the watermelon, we can trace its origins to where it first grew and found a way into our diets.

Characteristics of the Watermelon

The watermelon grows on vines on the ground. A member of the Cucurbitaceae family, the watermelon shares a relationship with cantaloupe, squash and pumpkin. Some varieties of watermelon come with a variety of rind and flesh colors. The inside flesh of the popular varieties are red or yellow. Round, oblong or spherical in shape, the watermelon grows in many different shapes. The thick rind of the plant sports spotted, striped and solid green colors.

Origin of the Watermelon

Thought to be the ancestor of the original watermelon, the white-skinned citron first grew in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. Egyptians recorded the earliest harvest of them 5000 years ago. Important to the culture of the Egyptians, watermelons were depicted in hieroglyphics that adorned the ancient walls of their structures. They buried the fruit in the tombs of their kings because they believed it nourished them in the afterlife.

Watermelons later spread by merchant ships to other countries as they traveled to conduct their business. The plants flourished along the Mediterranean Sea, and by the 10th century they made their way to China. Later in the 13th century the Moors helped spread the watermelon throughout Europe.

The watermelon may have made its way to the United States during the African slavery trade via slaves carrying the seeds on the ships. The word watermelon made its first debut in the English Dictionary in 1615. There are five states that currently lead watermelon production in the U.S: Florida, Texas, California, Georgia and Arizona. The United States ranks as number four in worldwide production of watermelon. China holds the number one spot.

Watermelon Cultivation

Watermelons come in 1200 different varieties. Recent cultivations led to development of several desirable characteristics of the fruit, including seedless varieties and ones with thin rinds. Importation and exportation of the watermelon allows for enjoyment of it all year.

Fun Facts about Watermelon

• 96 countries grow watermelons globally.
• Considered a polite gesture, the Chinese and Japanese often give watermelons to the host when they visit.
• Israelis and Egyptians enjoy salads made with sweet watermelon and salty feta cheese.
• Watermelon has a 92% water composition.
• The first cookbook published in the United States included a recipe for watermelon rind pickles.
• The largest watermelon ever grown weighed in at 268.8 pounds.
• Watermelon contains plenty of vitamins A, B6 and C.
• You can eat every part of a watermelon, including the seeds and rinds.

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• History of Things

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• History of Kokopelli

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History of the Cornucopia

When you sit down to a Thanksgiving feast, it’s likely your eyes take in an attractive centerpiece on the table called a cornucopia. Fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables fill and spill out of the horn-shaped woven basket. Nicknamed the “horn of plenty,” the word cornucopia originated in Greek myth. After reading about this humble decoration’s beginnings, you may look at the cornucopia in a different way the next time you see one.

Zeus Creates the Cornucopia

Two stories concern the cornucopia’s origins. The first begins with Zeus, the greatest of all the Greek gods. Cronus, his father, wanted to kill Zeus, so his mother Rhea hid him in Crete to protect him. The king of Crete had several daughters who raised him, and their goat provided milk for the child. When Zeus grew older he broke off one of the goat’s horns and gave them the magic power to fill up with whatever the owner of the horn desired. Zeus gave the horns to the king’s daughters to thank them for caring for him. According to legend, whoever owned the horn would never go hungry.

An alternate story involves the goat giving Zeus one of her horns in reverence. Zeus repays her by placing her image in the sky. We know the image as the constellation Capricorn.

Hercules Makes the Cornucopia Instead

The second story in Greek mythology concerns Hercules’s role in creating the cornucopia. A feud erupted between the mighty Hercules and the river-god Achelous. The two competed for the love of Dejanira, a young woman of breath-taking beauty. The two fought in a colossal wrestling match and Hercules began to get the better of Achelous.  Achelous, a shape-shifter, changed into a serpent and then into a bull in an effort to gain leverage against Hercules. Hercules broke off one of Achelous’s horns, and when he did the river changed course.  The water-nymphs came upon the horn in the river and treated the horn as a sacred object. They filled the horn with flowers and took care of it. Later Copia, the Goddess of Plenty, adopted the horn. Hercules married Dejanira and they reared a family.

Artist Renderings of the Cornucopia

Mythological beings and deities illustrate a theme in classical paintings, and the cornucopia became a popular design element. Artists often painted the curved goat’s horn filled with fruit and grain, and thus it came to symbolize wealth and plenty. Tyche, the goddess of riches and abundance, also became associated with the cornucopia. It also became the emblem for several other deities.

Modern design for cornucopias usually involves the use of it as a fall decoration. A favorite of florists, they often act as a vessel for containing bright, decorative flowers, fruits, gourds and many other decorative ideas that make it a pretty table ensemble.

The cornucopia symbolizes riches and plenty in some folklore, art and mythology, so the decoration rightfully belongs on the table at which you plan to have a meal while enjoying the company of family and friends.

The Meaning of the Word Cornucopia

The cornucopia has a close association with Thanksgiving, but people considered it symbolic before the holiday existed. The word originated in 1508 and comes from the Latin cornu, meaning horn, and copia, meaning plenty.

References

Zeus

http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/cornucopia.html

Hercules

http://www.flowershopnetwork.com/pages/newsletter/NewsletterOctober2005.php

Latin

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cornucopia

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• History of Things

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• History of Sesame Street

• History of Kokopelli

• History of Ice Skating

History of Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a quintessential, all-American product. It is the premier ingredient in many school kids’ lunch boxes, and it is estimated (though not scientifically) that the average American eats over 1500 peanut-butter-and-jam sandwiches by the time he reaches college. Now one of the most common household products in America, peanut butter hardly ever reaches that status outside of the country. But it is still a phenomenon; in fact, more than one in two peanuts produced ends up in a peanut butter jar.

A Brief History of Peanuts

Peanuts originated somewhere in South America and made their way to the rest of the world through European traders who brought them to the United States. America wasn’t a large peanut producer until the turn of the 19^th century, when technology allowed for large-scale production of this highly labor-intensive vegetable.

Until then peanuts had been cultivated mostly in the South and consumed either as a roasted food or in the form of oil. Soldiers famously ate them as a roasted treat during the Civil War. Peanut production has grown ever since with the invention of new peanut-based products. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry, and over 500 billion peanuts are consumed in the United States every year.

Peanut Butter’s Ancestors

Peanuts had become a commonly-grown legume all around the world long before peanut butter was ever invented. Mashed peanuts were therefore widespread and used for a variety of dishes such as gruels, stews and sauces. But it was toward the end of the 19^th century that a process to turn peanuts into a buttery paste came to life.

The two most likely inventors of peanut butter are the American Dr. John H. Kellogg and the Canadian Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who both registered a patent for a roasting technique that turns peanuts into a paste around 1890. By the turn of the century peanut-based products had become common in American households, thanks in part to the scientist George Washington Carver, who actively promoted and developed peanut products.

Modern Peanut Butter – The Non-Separating Factor

In 1922 peanut butter underwent its last major development to become the product we know today. Joseph L. Rosefield, a chemist and businessman from California, invented a way to make peanut butter more fluid with the addition of vegetable oil. The result was called “non-separating” peanut butter and is the modern version of the product. The country’s leading brands then proceeded to develop various versions of the product, including low-fat, chunky and smooth peanut butter to cater for the population’s diverse tastes.

Peanut Butter Today

Peanut butter remained a largely domestic product until the 1960s, when it started becoming more popular in the rest of the world. More than half of the U.S. peanut production goes into peanut butter, and it is estimated that every American eats over three pounds of peanut butter each year. Peanut butter is present in many processed foods sold today, including chocolate candies, ice cream, snack bars and cookies.

In 2007 a salmonella epidemic sent shockwaves throughout the whole industry. Many peanut-based products (including, most of all, peanut butter) were recalled in one of the biggest such operations the country has ever seen. That health-related episode outlined the importance of peanut-butter in the American way of life today.

Related Histories:

• History of Twix Candy

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• History of Laffy Taffy

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History of Desserts

Sweet cravings for dessert existed since the early beginnings of humanity. Now enjoyed by many, affluent society folk were the only ones who could afford such in the past, and “regular” people could afford desserts only on special occasions. Technological advances in sugar production allowed for more widespread distribution of it and more affordable prices for consumers. The increased sugar supply paved the way for people to enjoy desserts worldwide.

Origins of the Dessert

Thought to have originated from the custom of removing the aftertaste of a meal with a sweet taste, desserts leave a mouth sweet-tasting and revitalized. The confection derives its name from the French word desservir, which literally means “to clear the table.” Today there are literally thousands of dessert varieties. Some popular sweet desserts that have been around since ancient times include cakes, pies and ice cream.

Cakes

The word “cake” comes from the Old Norse word kaka. The Oxford English Dictionary first documented the use of the word “cake” in the 13th century. Ancient cultures consumed a very different type of cake than we do today. The first cakes more closely resembled bread and honey, and nuts and dried fruit flavored them. The ancient Egyptians were the first people to use advanced baking methods. People in Medieval Europe baked fruitcakes and gingerbread as desserts because they preserved well.

Advances in baking technology and the availability of cooking ingredients aided cake development. Round cakes with icing that resemble what we eat today made their way to plates in the mid-17th century. The modern cake with ingredients like white flour and baking powder were first used in the 19th century.

Pies

The roots of pie as a dessert originated in the Neolithic Period beginning in 9500 B.C. Known as galettes, these free-form pies contained different grains and honey. Galettes baked over hot coals. Pastry originated as bakers added fruit, nuts and honey to bread dough to serve to the pharaoh (1304-1237 B.C.). Drawings of this practice decorate the tomb walls of King Ramses II. Pie-making techniques and ingredients often changed because of different conditions and ingredients.

The Pilgrim women brought their favorite family pie recipes to America to use as desserts. They used traditional pie fillings and incorporated berries and fruits that the Native Americans used as they adapted to the New World.

Colonial women started the tradition of using round pans for pies. This tradition came about to conserve ingredients. The women used flattened pies and then laid rolled out pastry over the top of the pan and cut off the corners. Pies became a part of American culture in the 1700s as pioneer women served pie as a dessert with every meal. As an evening meal, apple pie became a popular dessert with American children.

Ice Cream

Ice cream originated around the 4th century B.C. The Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) ordered his minions to gather ice to combine with fruit toppings for his dessert. King Tang (A.D. 618-97) of Shang, China, developed an early form of ice cream by combining ice and milk. Traders likely brought ice cream from China back to Europe. Ice cream constantly evolved during history, and soon recipes developed for ices, sherbets, and milk ices to serve to the Italian and French aristocracy.

Ice cream recipes made their way into American history in the 1700s. Several important states people often served ice cream as a dessert.  Notable figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Dolly Madison served it to their guests. A London caterer ran an ad in a New York paper in 1774 announcing his intent to sell ice cream in his stores.

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• History of Strawberries

• History of Orange Fruit

• History of Things

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History of Pringles

Pringles are a potato and rice flour snack chip made and marketed by Procter and Gamble, a global manufacturing corporation headquartered in Cincinnati. The Pringles brand is sold in over 140 nations around the planet, and is worth over $1 billion per year in revenue. Pringles chips are sold primarily in a distinctive aluminum coated can with the brand logo depicting a character with large bushy mustache prominently displayed. The standard flavors include Original, Sour Cream and
Onion, Cheese, BBQ, Hot and Spicy, and Cheese and Onion.

Potato chips are a relatively new culinary invention, they were first made by an American chef George Speck in 1853 in New York who had prepared a plate of French fries for a diner, who subsequently returned them complaining they were too thick, and the worst fries a chef could ever prepare. Deciding to teach the diner a lesson, Speck cut the fries too thin to be picked up with a fork, and had the thin fries delivered to the diner. Happily for us, but sadly for George Speck, the diner was delighted and soon the entire restaurant requested George’s new fries.

By the turn of the century restaurants and pretzel companies all over America were selling salted potato chips as a snack food, and in the 1920s the mechanical potato peeler was invented, previously all potato chips had been peeled by hand. Sales of potato chips nationally only occurred in the 1930s, and after the second world war potato chips were as common as candy on grocery store shelves. European nations adopted the potato chip after being exposed to the recipe by US servicemen.

In the 1960s an American named Alexander Liepa who was working for the US Army invented a potato chip that wasn’t peeled and cut, instead it was made from potato flakes and reconstituted into the shape of a chip. The idea had been to create a snack that could be made in remote US bases without the expense of transporting American grown potatoes from the US. Liepa’s technique wasn’t used by the US Army, and he was able to take his patent to Procter & Gamble in 1968, who readily supported his recipe, creating a product they initially named Pringle’s Newfangled Potato Chips.

Workers from P&G have mentioned that the name Pringle’s, or just Pringles as they are now known, was picked for its similarity to a street named Pringle Street in Finneytown, Ohio, simply because the name sounded pleasing. P&G marketing staff believed that their sales team would have no trouble introducing Pringles because the name was easily pronounced and remembered. An urban myth suggests the name was picked randomly from a Cincinnati phone book, again for its pleasing sound, although this has never been proven.

Producing Pringles required developing new machinery and techniques, and involves mixing potato flakes, rice flour, water, and other ingredients until a smooth dough is made, then cutting the dough into thin round pieces that are placed onto individual baking trays with the saddle shape pre-formed. The chips are then fried very quickly, in a machine invented by science fiction writer Gene Wolfe, just enough to cook but not enough to brown. Seasoning is added immediately after, before the Pringle chip is sent to a stacking machine that bundles several together for packing in the distinctive Pringles containers.

The can used to package Pringles chips had to be specially designed as well, Pringle chips are quite fragile, completely unlike regular potato chips that can be stored in paper or plastic bags, Pringles would crush and break too easily. The task of designing the container came to Fredric Baur who worked in the food storage department of P&G, plastics weren’t common in those days so Baur designed a foil lined can made by rolling lengths of cardboard into a cylindrical tube. The tube protected the chips which are stacked, thus adding preventing much breakage.

The aluminum foil inside the can prevents outside air from entering the can and keeps the Pringles chips fresh longer, a fact that really appealed to the Baur who requested that some of his ashes be buried in a Pringles container. In March 2008 Baur passed away and his family honored his request, splitting a small part of his ashes and placing them in a Pringles can which were then interred alongside the remainder of his ashes.

Whilst Pringles were initially only sold in selected regions close to Cincinnati, by 1976 the chips were being marketed nationally with an advertising slogan “Once you pop, you can’t stop”. The pop in the slogan refers to the distinctive popping sound heard when a can of Pringles is first opened, and is caused by excess air in the canister that helps to keep the chips fresh. Owing to their potato and rice mixture, Pringles have a taste that is in some ways less harsh than regular potato chips, and market research by P&G suggested that this made Pringles a much easier chip to eat.

In fact, the recipe for Pringles chips places the snack in a different tax category as regular chips, in 2008 a London court found in favor of P&G after the UK tax authorities imposed a 15% sales tax (VAT) on Pringles chips as they would do for any other potato derived product. P&G’s lawyers argued that Pringles are actually only comprised of 42% potato, the remainder being rice flour, and thus should be categorized as a food for tax purposes and be exempt from sales tax. The ruling had important repercussions since Pringles are priced higher than regular potato chips and the sales tax would have made the product uncompetitive.

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History of Mars Chocolate

Mars Chocolate is one of the operating divisions of US global corporation Mars Inc, a privately owned company founded by Frank and Ethel Mars in 1920 and has grown to be one of the world’s largest confectionary brands with products such as M&Ms, Snickers, Skittles, Milky Way, Bounty, Twix, and of course the flagship chocolate candy, the Mars Bar. The company also owns several other food related brands such as Uncle Ben’s, Dolmio, Masterfoods, and Pedigree Pet Foods,

In 1911 Frank C. Mars and his second wife Ethel (nee Healy) started a confectionary factory in Tacoma, Washington known as the Mars Candy Factory, but by 1920 Frank and Ethel had relocated the factory to Minnesota under the name Mar-O-Bar but the name didn’t inspire a great deal of brand loyalty and was changed to Mars, Inc when the company incorporated a few months later.

Mars were most well known for their Milky Way chocolate bar in the 1920s a candy bar with nougat and caramel that was quite unique in those times with most other chocolate candy being simple bars of solid chocolate. The Milky Way candy sold well and allowed the company to grow to several hundred employees.

By the early 1930s Mars were able to introduce the Snickers chocolate bar with a chewy nougat and peanut interior, and coated with milk chocolate. The Snickers bar was named after a favorite horse of the Mars family but this didn’t seem to affect sales too much, quite the contrary, the simple change from snack allowed for clever puns in contemporary society helping to drive sales of the Snickers chocolate bar to levels exceeding those of the Milky Way bar.

Forrest Mars Sr, the son of Frank and Ethel Mars joined the family business a few years after it was formed, but disagreements in the family led to an estrangement and Forrest relocating to England where he formed Mars Limited at Slough. The dispute between Forrest and Frank Mars is believed to have been over Forrest’s desire to experiment with new products and promote the family’s products outside of the USA.

In 1932 things had reached an untenable situation and Forrest was given $50,000 and the recipe for the Milky Way bar and told to follow his own destiny. Arriving in England Forrest discovered the Milky Way bar wasn’t to European tastes, the malt nougat needing to be toned down and the taste of the caramel accentuated. The new product couldn’t be named Milky Way, so the name Mars was adopted and was an immediate success in England and other European nations.

The death of Frank Mars in 1934 at the age of 51 put Mars, Inc and Mars Limited into Forrest Mars Sr’s hands along with his sister Patricia, and the return of Forrest to the US as well as the merger of the two companies under the Mars, Inc name. In the US, Mars continued to sell and market the Milky Way and Snickers bars, whilst in Europe the Snickers bar was introduced under the name Marathon.

During the 1930s Forrest happened to be on a sales trip to Spain and witnessed soldiers in the Spanish civil war eating chocolate beads covered with a candy exterior that kept the beads from melting and allowed soldiers to carry them in the packs or pockets. Sensing a market for small chocolate beads Forrest set about developing his own recipe. By the time the product was ready to be introduced to the market World War 2 was underway and rations introduced in the US.

At the time the only company authorized to make chocolate for domestic and war consumption was the Hershey company, a rival to Mars, but an agreement was reached with Bruce Murrie, the son of Hershey’s president where Mars with 80% share in the new product would provide the factory and recipe, whilst Hershey with the other 20% share of the business would provide the chocolate. The two Ms on the beads were named after Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie. Production started in 1941 but 100% of the manufactured product was diverted to soldiers until after the war ended.

As the company has grown, new factories became necessary particularly in new markets outside of Mars, Incs traditional markets of the US and UK. In 1963 a chocolate factory in the Netherlands at Veghel was opened and has continued to be expanded and also produces other foods in the Mars family of products, yet is still the largest chocolate factory owned by Mars and either the largest or second largest in the world, a fact that cannot be verified due to secrecy surrounding Mars, Inc..

A criticism of Mars chocolate has come from environmentalists and fair trade activists who claimed the company hasn’t publicly endorsed and supported the fair trade movement. Mars, Inc countered that their own program of sustainable development and partnership with cacao farmers was a more progressive approach, and cited partnerships with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Rainforest Alliance, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and the US Department of Agriculture as proof of its commitment. The private and secretive nature of Mars, Inc prevented fair trade activists from verifying Mars claims so criticism has continued.

Dove Chocolate, formerly an independent company bought by Mars, Inc in 1986, forms part of the flagship lineup of the confectionary division of Mars and allowed the company to develop non-traditional sales channels, starting with party plans and private distributors working from home. Since the 1990s Mars, Inc has successfully introduced new chocolate brands into the market such as Ethel M’s Chocolate Lounge, a gourmet product aimed at the gifts market and sold thru company owned stores in the US as well as online.

Mars, Inc also started up the American Heritage Chocolate Co with stores at major historical sites selling chocolate using authentic colonial recipes, and is active in helping to preserve chocolate history. In 2009 Mars in association with the Smithsonian Institute published a book entitled “Chocolate: The North American Experience”, a history of chocolate production and cacao processing in North America since the earliest known times.

Related Histories:

• History of Twix Candy

• History of Snickers Candy Bar

• History of Skittles Candy

• History of Chocolate

• History of Laffy Taffy

History of Snickers Candy Bar

The Snickers Candy Bar is a chewy peanut butter nougat and caramel and roasted peanut topping candy bar covered in dairy milk chocolate made and marketed by Mars, Inc, a US based private corporation that is one of the world’s largest food and confectionary suppliers. The Snickers candy bar is sold throughout the world and over 15 million bars are made daily with annual sales of over $2 billion making it one of the most popular candy bars ever produced.

Frank and Ethel Mars, the founders of Mars, Inc created the very successful Milky Way chocolae bar in the early 1920s, which was America’s most popular candy bar between 1927 and 1929 allowing the company to expand and develop new recipes for chocolate candy. The Snickers bar took over three years to develop and wasn’t released to the market until 1930. Frank and Ethel also owned a farm that bred race horses in Tennessee, some of which were regular sweepstake winners, including Ethel’s favorite, a horse named Snickers.

Sadly the horse died a month or two before the new product was to be released, an since a new name hadn’t been settled on, and the farm in any event had been named after the first chocolate bar, the Milky Way Farm, it seemed fitting that the next chocolate bar should take its name from the farm. By all accounts Ethel was delighted that the name of her favorite horse would be chosen.

Snickers bars were originally made by pouring the peanut butter nougat onto a large tray, then adding the caramel and peanut topping, and slicing by hand before dipping each piece into melted chocolate. Of course the increasing use of machines to increase volumes made means that old hand made way is no longer practiced. It is a sign of the times that the first Milky Way bar sold for just 5 cents in 1920, yet the Snickers candy bar sold for 20 cents when it was first released in 1930.

The association with a prize winning race horse inspired the Mars company to identify the Snickers candy bar with athletes, rumor has it that Forrest Mars Sr, while in Europe and estranged from his father back in the US, decided to brand the Snickers bar as the Marathon bar because of the high calorie count. After his father’s death Mars in the US came under his control and whilst the same candy bar continued to be known by the different names, they both became synonymous with performance sport.

The end of World War 2 ushered in a golden age of radio and television advertising, the future was considered bright; democracy, capitalism and the American way of life were believed to be the pinnacle of human accomplishment, leading to major brands such as Snickers being associated with clean wholesome entertainment, and leading directly to Snickers becoming the main sponsor of The Howdy Doody Show from 1949 till 1952.

Very little changed with the Snickers brand during its first forty years of production, except in 1968 when Mars were inspired to produce the Snickers mini candy bar which sold in bags of a dozen or more and were labeled ‘fun size’. Fun size candy bars were heavily marketed at parents concerned about the sugar and fat content of regular size chocolate bars as the ideal accompaniment to school lunch boxes and family snacks for the kitchen pantry.

Snickers candy bars in the UK and Ireland had been known as Marathon chocolate bars since they were first introduced to the market in the 1930s, but by the 1990s Mars, Inc undertook a consolidated branding exercise aimed at bringing all of the corporations products under unified Mars branding that would be recognized globally instead of locally. Several company divisions were renamed using Mars as the division prefix, whilst many products including Snickers and Twix adopted the more globally known name.

The Marathon bar was to become Snickers in line with global naming, and for a period of 18 months featured the catchphrase “Internationally known as Snickers”. After this time all Marathon candy in the British Isles were branded Snickers, although Mars Limited in England has renewed their trademark to the name Marathon provoking rumors they may re-use the name.

Mars, Inc. and especially the Snickers brand has courted controversy in recent years with advertisements perceived to be homophobic, notably during Super Bowl XLI when two mechanics are seen sharing a Snickers and accidentally kiss when reaching the middle. The two actors immediately feel the need to do something manly such as drinking motor oil or hitting each other with a wrench. Controversially, the Snickers website showed a group of Super Bowl players reacting with disgust to the kiss, fueling protests that Mars, Inc. was promoting discrimination against gay and lesbian people.

A similar controversy in England was the result of an advertisement featuring the actor Mr T who is seen ridiculing a power walker and firing a semi-automatic rifle in his direction whilst telling the walker to do something more manly. At the same time Mr T is seen eating a Snickers candy bar. Interestingly, protesters weren’t annoyed with the firing of a weapon, or of the ad ridiculing power walking, instead most commentators accused Mars Limited of homophobia since the power walker is portrayed in an effeminate manner.

Significantly, neither controversial ad seemed to have damaged sales or caused any embarrassment to the Mars family although Mr T was forced to defend his role in the UK ad and lost work as sponsors recoiled from being associated with the perception of homophobia. In other parts of the world the Snickers brand has been more positively received with Snickers in Australia being a major sponsor of surfing, whilst in Latin America Snickers is known for supporting youth activities such as music and skateboarding.

Sales of Snickers candy bars have continued to increase, and have become a major brand within the Mars, Inc. portfolio of products that has also experienced many varieties over the years beginning in the late 1980s thru to the present. Examples of Snickers branded products include the Snickers Ice Cream Bar, Snickers Cruncher, Snickers Almond Bar, Snickers Xtreme, Snickers Charged, Snickers Hazelnut, Snickers Flapjack and many more, all of which have been well received at the time and either continued in production or withdrawn after the promo ended.

Related Histories:

• History of Mars Chocolate

• History of Twix Candy

• History of Skittles Candy

• History of Laffy Taffy

• History of Halloween

History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is so closely associated with American images of turkey dinners with family and friends that we haven’t thought of whether the holiday could be something more than remembering the Pilgrims. Actually, Thanksgiving has been celebrated in ancient times and in many different cultues, not just in the Western world.

Ancient Times

In ancient times, Thanksgiving was usually celebrated after the harvest season when the produce were abundant and the people were blessed with enough food lasting through the winter. In ancient Greece, Thanksgiving was celebrated during the feast held in honor of the goddess, Demeter, the deity of agriculture. Because the celebration was heavily associated with fertility and childbearing, married women would build shelters and fast during the first and second days of the festival.

In Rome, they celebrated the festival each year on October 4 in honor of Ceres, the goddess of grains. In China, their harvest festival was a feast for the moon’s birthday and special “moon cakes,” round and yellow like the moon, would be baked. In Egypt, they honored their god of vegetation and fertility, Min, with music, dancing, and a great feast. And, among Hebrews, they observed a harvest festival called Sukkoth, which was a feast eaten inside huts.

All these festivals were held in honor of a deity who oversaw the bearing of fruits, the growth of their crops, and the fertility of the womb. Each event was celebrated with much feasting, dancing, and singing. Offerings were made and pleas for another good harvest and for children were sent out to the deities. These same traditional practices are still being observed today despite the prevalence of Christianity.

American Thanksgiving

During the time when the Pilgrims were just newly settled in the New World, they experienced a period of hardship, tragedy, and sorrow. They were used to an industrialized England and were suddenly forced to confront the wilderness in the New World. Many of them had died while struggling against the harshness of the land, and the threats of the Native Americans. Beating the odds of surviving, becoming friends with their American Indian neighbors, and producing abundant harvest that would sufficiently last through winter were great reasons to give thanks to God.

Similar to ancient peoples thanking their deities, the Pilgrims also gave their thanks to their Lord through a big feast with families and friends. However, unlike the ancient times, there was not much dancing or drinking of wine, or even singing. Thanksgiving among the Pilgrims was a solemn ceremony.

The custom of celebrating a feast after harvest was observed through the years, but there was no specific date proclaimed. However, in 1817, the state of New York adopted Thanksgiving as an annual holiday for the state. Other states followed suit, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, they each have their appointed Thanksgiving Day. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared a national date for Thanksgiving Day. Since the, each succeeding President has declared a national Thanksgiving Day date, usually designating the fourth Thrusday of each November as the holiday.

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History of Ratatouille

Ratatouille is stewed vegetable dish, with the main ingredients being tomato, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers, mixed with Mediterranean herbs, and stewed in olive oil. Although a thick gravy is present, ratatouille is not a soup. The word ratatouille is pronounced rat-a-tooey and is a French word, but the full name of ratatouille is ratatouille niçoise referring to the Nice region of France where ratatouille is most often associated with.

Food historians differ on the exact origins of ratatouille, was the dish French, perhaps Catalonian, or could it have been a Basque dish that made its way into the kitchens of Southern France, Northern Spain, and the Balearic islands. Could the dish be pre-Roman peoples, although if this was the case then it would have most certainly been made with other ingredients since tomatoes and zucchini were only introduced to Europe from the Americas whilst eggplant is native to India, none of which were known in Europe until at least the 1600s and possibly later.

In fact, Basque people have been making a stew with potatoes and mutton since before written records in Roman times. The basques landscape is rugged, with plenty of hills and mountains, completely unsuitable for growing extensive fields of crops so sheep farming, fishing, and growing potatoes were the main industry. The basque stew of potato and mutton would be thickened with stale bread and seasoned with salt or whatever herbs grew locally.

The modern ratatouille dish is claimed by the people of Nice and the Provence region of France, located in the South East bordering Italy who are known for a cosmopolitan culinary style that is at once typically Mediterranean, yet also quite French, so it isn’t hard to imagine Nice being the home of ratatouille. Throughout the Mediterranean, any dish made with vegetables and stewed in olive oil will be given the name ratatouille even if the resulting dish isn’t true to the traditional recipe, so it fair to say that ratatouille is more of a style of preparing a vegetable stew than a particular recipe.

Politically, the provence region and most of the French south coast along with the north western coast of Italy and the north eastern coast of Spain have always been close, and from 1720 till 1860 Nice was part of the Kingdom of Savoy which also included Savoy in France, and Sardinia, Piedmont and Liguria in present day Italy. It was during this time that some local historians believe the ratatouille dish was first created, and then quickly spread to other parts of the kingdom.

Modern interpretation suggests in fact that ratatouille may have only inherited its name from Nice owing to a particular recipe that became popular, and that ratatouille was in fact first created elsewhere in the Kingdom of Savoy. A definitive cookbook published in the late 1900s, La cuisiniére Provençale by J. B. Reboul which provides an exhaustive list over 1100 traditional Provencal dishes, and significantly, ratatouille is not listed.

The Catalans of Northern Spain, whose capital city Barcelona has been in important trading city and center of power for hundreds of years claim that people from Southern France adopted their samfaina recipe which is strikingly similar to ratatouille and is often prepared with fish pieces. Both ratatouille and samfaina are usually served with bread for dipping in the sauce left in the bowl after the larger vegetable chunks have been eaten. In Malta, another of the Mediterranean countries, a dish known as Kapunata, and also made with eggplant, garlic, and tomato is a local favorite, adding fuel to speculation that ratatouille as a dish is prepared throughout the Mediterranean.

Whilst ratatouille, or local variants are made throughout the Mediterranean, a true ratatouille from Provence will be made with just eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, then simmered in olive oil, and seasoned with herbes de provence, a particular mixture of herbs that grew traditionally in the region, these being rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme, serpolet, and savory. Chefs from the Provence region of France will scoff at any other recipe claiming the name ratatouille niçoise if any other combination of vegetables or herbs are used.

During the 20^th century ratatouille has spread with French cuisine to almost every corner of the globe and the word has entered the English language. Ratatouille, traditionally peasant food, or at least made from cheap and possibly over ripe ingredients, is now a culinary dish served in the top restaurants and many top chefs have their own special recipe that regularly receive acclaim from critics.

In 2007, Disney Pixar produced an animated film based on the story of a rat who loved nothing better than to cook up a storm in the kitchen. The title of the film was a play on the lead character being a rat, and went onto win best Best Animated Feature Film in the 2008 Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe as well. The success of the film encouraged many family oriented restaurants to offer ratatouille as a menu item for children, although historians doubt the dish’s new found popularity will prove sustainable.

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History of Orange Fruit

The orange is a type of citrus fruit that is very closely related to lemons, limes, tangerines, and grapefruit. Typically an orange of any variety will have a stringy core that contains the seeds, followed by a series of segments that contain the fleshy fruit, and then a thick orange colored skin protecting the fruit and seed from damage. Oranges are the most popular of all citrus fruits, and behind apples are also one of the most popular fruits grown and consumed globally. Many Americans start their morning with a glass of orange juice, and orange flavored treats are increasingly popular.

Orange trees originate in in India, with some varieties being found in the south east of the country and possibly the island of Ceylon, whilst other smaller varieties may have originated in forests of the north east of the country or Bangladesh. The varieties of the north east were used as long ago as 7,000 years ago in traditional dishes, and were known to the Aryan people who were responsible for the Vedic scripts of ancient India. Apart from desserts, orange peel and juice has also been used in Indian savory dishes for thousands of years, sometimes to flavor rice, or add an orange tang to certain vegetable dishes.

Archeologists and historians believe that by the beginning of the first millennium Chinese farmers were setting aside land for orchards and growing oranges, apples, figs and a variety of other tree hanging fruit. Certainly at the height of the Zhou dynasty, and in the times after when the states were warring against each other, many of China’s greatest administrators were writing about the virtues of keeping orchards rather than relying foraging for fruit. Oranges and apples in particular were very popular amongst the nobility and orchardists were known to compete with each other for the pleasure of their lord by growing ever larger, sweeter, or more perfectly rounded fruit.

The first time an orange was seen in Europe can be traced to the Roman Empire, probably around the time of the first century when Roman traders were in regular contact the Persians, and the Axum Kingdom in present day Ethiopia, whose sailors were known use the monsoon winds to trade with Southern India and Ceylon from around 150 BC till the Kingdom’s collapse around 700 AD. Oranges from the seafaring Tamil kingdoms of Southern India were exported to the Roman Kingdom, and became popular amongst the noble and military classes who could afford these luxuries.

The first orchards planted with oranges in the western world occurred in North Africa, from Libya to Morocco from the 1^st century AD, and were initially owned by Roman settlers, and tended by slaves, and much of the fruit from these orchards found its way across the Mediterranean, though the best produce was still shipped from India for wealthy people in Rome. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 6^th century, and the growth of the Islamic Caliphate from the 7^th century these trading routes closed and orchards in North Africa, which were now controlled by Islamic lords reoriented their trading routes toward Baghdad, and the lands of the Middle East. The few Roman orchards that grew oranges in the European territories fell into disrepair as the medieval era took hold.

During the golden years of the Islamic caliphate in North Africa and Southern Spain around the 11^th century, oranges were once again imported into Europe, and seeds from Persia planted in orchards throughout Al-Andaluz, which in those times included most of Southern Spain, Southern Portugal, and parts of Northern Morocco. These oranges contained more pectin, and a thicker skin than previously known varieties, and are an excellent orange for liquers, marmalades, compotes, and can be made into essential oil for perfumes. The name Seville Orange is reserved for these varieties.

Sweet oranges, in contrast to the bitter oranges previously mentioned, weren’t imported into Europe until the 16^th century when Portuguese traders finally discovered a trading route around the Cape of Good Hope to India. Sadly we have no record of who first brought Indian oranges back to Europe from the Tamil kingdoms, though we do know that these sweeter varieties quickly became established in orchards all over the Southern European countries from Portugal to Georgia. In fact in most Mediterranean languages the sweet orange is known as the Portugal orange.

Within just a few years of their introduction to Europe, those same sweet oranges were also being exported to the Americas by Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Orchards were established in Hispaniola in 1493, and in Florida by Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish discoverer of La Florida (todays US state of Florida), and records indicate the orange trees were planted in 1513, the year of Ponce de Leon’s first sailing to Florida so that future sailors would be able to protect themselves from scurvy. To this day the State of Florida is the second most productive orange growing area in the world.

Brazil claims the honor of producing the most oranges, accounting for about half of all the world’s oranges, most of which are grown in the state of São Paulo. Portuguese explorers first arrived in South America at the end of the 15^th century, but oranges are not believed to have been imported and planted in orchards until the beginning of the 16^th century on an island of the São Paulo coast known as Cananéia, which these days is a small coastal city heavily dependent on agriculture such as oranges.

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