Like many types of inventions, a lot of our
favorite food dishes were created as happy little mishaps.
From some of our favorite snacks to some of our most craved desserts, here is a list of
10 foods that were accidentally invented!
Thank You For The Nachos, Nacho!
From happy hour appetizers, to sporting events, to even an intimate dinner party for two (or
let’s be real, possibly just one), nachos are a go-to dish for many occasions.
Regardless of how you eat your nachos, you may not be aware that nachos were in fact,
an accidental creation!
It all went down in 1943.
The story begins with a group of American housewives who went for a shopping trip across
the border to Mexico.
On their way back to the US, the ladies stopped in at a restaurant, but unfortunately the
place was closing up for the night!
However, luckily for the American shoppers, the maitre d’, named Ignacio “Nacho”
Anaya, was so accommodating that he decided to whip up something using some basic ingredients
in the kitchen!
Using what was leftover from the dinner service, Nacho heated the cheese with the chips and
then added jalapeño peppers.
And thus, the iconic and equally mouthwatering nachos were born!
The Genius That Is The Ice Cream Cone
Ice cream and cones are such an iconic duo that it’s difficult to imagine a time when
one existed without the other.
But yes, this twilight zone era did occur.
Ice cream was already a popular summer treat for quite some time before the cone came into
the picture.
Our beloved ice cream was originally sold exclusively in dishes and cups.
But then, one glorious day in 1904 an ice cream crisis struck at the St Louis World
Fair.
A busy ice cream vendor ran out of dishes to serve the frozen treat to customers.
Purely by chance, a nearby vendor was selling pastries that resembled waffles.
Ernest Hamwi, the pastry vendor, chose to help the harried ice cream vendor out by folding
his waffle pastries into a cone shape.
They were an instant hit!
And why wouldn’t they be?!
Everyone at the fair loved the ice cream served in a cone, and then after the fair a demand
grew for these tasty and convenient cone-shaped cup replacements.
And so, naturally, as the popularity of ice cream itself rose so did the popularity of
the cone along with it.
And we are ever so appreciative!
Life Is Better In Pink, Even The Lemonade!
Ever wondered where pink lemonade gets its color from?
Us too!
There are actually two origin stories for the pink version and both fall under the category
of “accidental inventions.”
Interestingly enough, both stories also randomly involve circus employees and are well, not
the most appetizing.
The first version contends that a circus employee innocently used a bucket of water to make
lemonade that a performer had unfortunately used to wash her pink stockings in (yikes!).
The second story apparently involves some cinnamon candles accidentally being dropped
into a batch of regular lemonade and turning it from yellow to a pinkish color.
And there you have it!
Be assured though that the pink lemonade you would drink today is most certainly made in
a different manner.
The pink lemonade we have now simply has some food coloring (or possibly some strawberries
or raspberries added into the mix) that turns the yellow drink to a refreshing pink color.
The One, The Only Slurpee A Slurpee is an American institution all on
its own - just watch out for the “brain freeze.”
Slurpees, as a brand, are only available at 7-11 stores.
Well, thirsty kids everywhere owe a big thank you to a Dairy Queen franchise owner named
Omar Knedlik.
Knedlik’s soda machine stopped working on a hot day at DQ, so he logically moved his
soda into the freezer to keep it cold.
However, it turned out that Omar accidentally left the soda in the freezer for too long.
(Oh no!)
But, oh yes!
At first, the DQ franchise owner thought he had caused a real problem because his sodas
were nearly frozen!
But, instead of panicking he decided to sell the partially frozen sodas to thirsty customers
rather than offer them nothing.
The customer feedback was all positive!
They loved his partially frozen sodas!
This surprise reaction inspired Omar Knedlik to design and construct a machine that essentially
makes partially frozen sodas on purpose instead of by accident.
Slurpees may have been accidentally invented at a Dairy Queen, but don’t forget, you
have to go to your nearest 7-Eleven now to get this popular frozen drink.
Fun fact: the province of Manitoba in Canada is the Slurpee capital of the world.
Just in case, you know, you need to, bust out that fact on trivia night.
Cheese Puffs, The Dependable Cheesy Snack Cheese is an exceptionally popular food, on
well, just about everything.
And cheese mixed with another treat is like the ultimate of ultimate snacking foods.
Consider the cheese puff in all of its cheesy glory.
Cheese puffs are one of those perfect snacks, just right for a party, a movie or simple
afternoon nosh session.
These crunchy snacks are right up there with potato chips, tortilla chips and popcorn on
the top snack list of all time.
Cheese puffs are made from puffed up corn and coated with a layer of cheese flavored
powder.
However, did you ever wonder where cheese puffs came from?
Well, it turns out, cheese puff loyalists everywhere owe a man named Edward Wilson a
debt of gratitude for coming up with this beloved snack back in the 1930's.
As legend has it, Wilson worked at an animal feed factory, which means he was working with
a lot of corn.
One day he saw fellow employees pouring corn kernels into a machine by hand because the
machine was starting to get clogged, which resulted in the corn kernels blowing up into
puffy ribbon shapes.
This intrigued Edward.
He saw an opportunity here and so he brought the puffs home and experimented with different
flavors until he eventually landed on cheese as the perfect flavor!
And, from the way these bad boys fly off the shelves at supermarkets, we’d say Edward
Wilson was definitely onto something with cheese puffs!
The Petty Beginnings of The Potato Chip
The potato chip story is kind of hilarious (and equally petty), because it seems like
this brilliant snack was kind of almost made out of spite.
We’ve all been there, you know, when you get a difficult, finicky and very, very, very,
picky customer.
Well now, think about all of the different potato chip brands that exist.
Dizzying isn’t it?!
When you really ponder the chip though, you realize that this salty and crunchy snack
is pretty basic.
Some fried slices of potato and salt is the usual potato chip recipe, but within this
basic framework are a seemingly infinite number of variations one can enjoy.
The original snack chip dates back to 1853.
Because the customer is always right, a chef named George Crum had to keep making increasingly
thinner sliced fried potatoes in a seemingly vain attempt to satisfy one particularly finicky
patron.
The exasperated Chef Crum eventually sliced the potatoes to what he thought was a ridiculously
thin degree.
However, when he served the thin potatoes to the customer, he loved them!
Word of these thin potatoes got out and quickly spread to other customers.
And, over a hundred and fifty years later, we’re still chowing down on this delicious
snack on the regular!
Thank Goodness For Chocolate Chip Cookies Name a more famous, adored or traditional
dessert than the chocolate chip cookie.
Having trouble?
We thought you might.
Well, chocolate chip cookies are loved far and wide by kids and adults alike who enjoy
them with their milk or coffee, at break time or perhaps recess time at school.
The sweet cookie coupled with the even sweeter chocolate chips makes for a delectable classic
that even Gordon Ramsay would have a hard time finding a flaw in.
We’re sure many bakers would probably like to take credit for dreaming up this recipe
of perfection; however, serendipity actually takes the cake (or cookie in this case).
One glorious day in 1938, a woman named Ruth Wakefield was baking (or, well, trying to
bake) chocolate cookies, but she ran out of baking chocolate and was at a loss for what
to do next.
Wakefield then decided to break up a semi-sweet chocolate bar and add the pieces to her cookie
batter, unsure exactly of what the result would be from this improvisation.
Instead of the added chocolate pieces making the intended chocolate cookies, the result
was cookies with chocolate chips!
Ruth Wakefield thought her cookies were a failure at first, but people absolutely loved
her accidental innovation!
Her contribution to the cookie world went down as one of the great success stories of
all time and one that we continue to enjoy today - and one invention that The Cookie
Monster is particularly grateful for.
The Simplicity of The Sandwich The sandwich is one of the most convenient
foods possibly in existence.
As irony would have it, it was actually created for this very purpose, but accidentally!
While the everyday sandwich may not be as exciting as nachos or as fancy as Tarte Tatin,
the sandwich is nearly everywhere these days and is as versatile as it is delicious!
The variations are almost endless and include hamburgers, ham and cheese, grilled cheese,
peanut butter and jelly and arguably even the hot dog on a bun.
That's just a handful of the choices available so it might be a little hard to imagine lunch
without the sandwich.
Remember it isn't just the fillings that make a sandwich, but the bread as well, with rye,
whole wheat, kaiser rolls, sour dough and the ever-classic white bread as possible choices.
Like the other foods on this list, sandwiches did not always exist.
The sandwich was conceived in the 1700's by John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.
The Earl was famous for his all night gambling binges and sometimes he couldn't even be bothered
to eat a proper meal with a knife and fork.
And so the story goes that Montagu instructed a servant to forget the silverware and bring
him slices of meat stuffed between pieces of bread so that he could continue to eat
as he played cards.(Truly innovative!)
You see, the sandwich was a matter of convenience for the Earl of Sandwich and this convenience
is one of the reasons his invention is still with us to this day.
The Glorious Apple Tarte Tatin
We all recognize an apple pie when we see one, or at least we tend to recognize the
scent.
(Aaaaaah!
Smells like grandma’s cooking!)
However, there are variations on the apple pie that are a little less common like the
Tarte Tatin.
This version of the beloved American favorite only has crust on the bottom and none on the
top, as is the case with most apple pies.
The Tarte Tatin also uses heavily caramelized apples for a uniquely sweet flavor (and we
are so grateful for it!).
This fortuitous mistake took place in the 1800's when Stephanie Tatin accidentally overcooked
the apples for the pie she was making.
Tatin put the crust over the apples to prevent them from continuing to bake in the oven.
When Tatin served her pie she flipped it over so the top crust became a bottom crust (Mind.
Officially.
Blown!).
What's interesting is that Stephanie Tatin didn't flip the pie in a demonstration of
culinary excellence, but rather she did it because she didn't want her guests to see
the burn marks on the crust (makes sense to us!).
Her guests loved the fresh and serendipitous take on the familiar apple pie and so the
Tarte Tatin became a part of culinary history.
Totally OG Tofu
Hate it or love it, tofu has been around for more than a couple of thousand years.
This soybean based food may be known to be bland, but it is also definitely a viable
meat replacement.
Tofu can be seasoned with whatever flavors you like and it can be added to dishes in
place of meats like chicken, fish and beef.
Despite tofu’s longevity it is still not very popular with many meat lovers.
To be fair, not only does tofu have little taste, it also can have a soft consistency
similar to Jell-O that many people find unappetizing.
The thing is though, according to historical sources, tofu has been around in some form
or another for the last 2,000 years.
The origin stories of tofu are difficult to verify after so much time, but both of them
lean into the theory that tofu was accidentally invented.
In one version of the story, tofu was first made when a little bit of nigari (a bitter
tasting byproduct formed when salt is removed from sea water), accidentally found its way
into a pot of milk and soybeans.
The other story contends that soybeans were simply dropped into a pot of boiling water
that contained sea salt.
Neither story is more captivating over the other, but both demonstrate that even exceptionally
helpful foods can be invented by accident and eventually become staples in the diets
of many.
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