My Science School

Chicken nuggets, whether served with burgers or with a dip, are one of the most highly consumed fast foods. Did you know the invention of this iconic snack is also related to the origin of a few other chicken-based dishes such as hot dogs and steaks?

Mincing and moulding

Robert C. Baker, a Poultry Sciences professor at Cornell University, New York, is often credited with the invention of chicken nuggets. Baker was worried about the fall in poultry sales after World War II. Passionate about poultry, he conducted a detailed research on poultry products as processed foods. Baker created a ‘predecessor’ of nugget, known as chicken sticks in 1963.

He made use of minced and moulded chicken, mixed with vinegar and salt.

The vinegar aided in removing the moisture and also bound the meat together.

Baker froze the chicken mixture before coating small nuggets of it with eggs and breadcrumbs. Following this, the nuggets were flash frozen at – 10 degree F, before being deep-fried at a high temperature.

This was the first time someone figured out how to keep ground meat together without a skin. Prior to his research, there was no batter that could remain intact in the process of freezing and deep frying.

Baker continued his research in the field and also invented a few other iconic processed foods such as chicken hot dogs and steaks.

A global hit

Chicken nuggets rose to fame when McDonald’s sold its first McNuggets in 1980. According to reports, McDonald’s was trying to create a successful chicken dish for several years, as the meat was cheap and highly profitable.

However, despite several attempts, they couldn’t create a successful dish. As chicken nuggets began to be consumed across the U.S., McDonald’s set up a team to research and come up with a nuggets recipe for their menu. In a few months, bite-sized chicken chunks, known as McNuggets began to be served in McDonald’s outlets. Following this, several other fast-food joints across the world began serving nuggets. In just a few years, the crispy deep-fried snack shot to global fame.

Peri-peri or parmesan?

There are several types of nuggets available for people with varied dietary preferences, from vegan to paleo and keto. There are also a wide range of quirky flavours such as parmesan, Korean BBQ, pretzel-crusted, honey garlic, coconut, peri-peri, lemon grass and wasabi.

A symbol of our era?

According to experts, in the half-century after 1961, per capita meat and egg consumption has doubled.

This timeline coincides with the invention of several poultry-based processed and frozen foods such as chicken nuggets and hot dogs.

Reports suggest future civilisations will find evidence of the anthropocene through the 50 billion-bird-a-year consumption in the fossil record.

 

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Food writer Tori Avey tells us the story of the burger. Hamburgers may well be considered America’s favourite food, she says. You can buy a hamburger anywhere –in small hole-in-the-wall diners, at the drive-through fast food chains, and in high-end restaurants. Worldwide, McDonald’s sells 75 hamburgers per second.

Hamburg, a town in Germany, is where the first hamburger was made. Much later, in the 19th century, beef from German Hamburg cows was minced and combined with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, shaped into patties (without bread or a bun) to make Hamburg beef. Diners loved these burges, but they were expensive because of the price of the Hamburg beef. Then Germans migrated to New York and Chicago, and opened restaurants to make a living. They served an American version of the German burger. During the Industrial Revolution, factory workers were served Hamburg steak from food carts. They were too slippery to eat standing, so a cook sandwiched the meat patty between two slices of bread, and the Hamburg sandwich was born. American soon shortened the name to “hamburger.”

Now, hamburgers are made in a number of ways, including with vegetables. In countries where beef is not part of the traditional diet, it is substituted with potato. So, if you  order a veg burger, be ready to bite into an aloo tikki. The beef hamburger is so popular that environmentalists now fear it is not sustainable. Scientists are trying to grow burger meat in petri dishes in a lab to meet the hamburger demand worldwide.

 

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It is a round dish with a crumbly crust filled with jam and jelly. Among the fillings, the apple stuffing is supposed to be the best. In the U.S., the pie is served as dessert during the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. But the pies we eat today have a short history, though people have been baking dough filled with stuff for a very long time. According to Time.com, in medieval England they were called pyes, and apart from the sweet fillings, they also had meat –beef, lamb, wild duck, magpie pigeon – and were spiced with pepper, currants, dates. Historians say ancient Greeks made the first pie-shells by mixing flour and water. Wealthy Romans used many kinds of meat – from even mussels and other sea creatures in their pies. Cato the Younger (scribe) recorded the popularity of the sweet pie as a dessert in Roman meals.

In 1621, people (the Pilgrims) crossed the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World of America. They carried salty meat pies with them to the colonies in America. The pumpkin pie, now a must-have during the Thanksgiving feast, was first recorded in a cook-book in 1675. The British made this pie with squash, and the American version with red pumpkin became popular in the 1800s. The colonists cooked many types of pies. With their crusty covers, pies were preserved food, and kept their fillings fresh in the winter months. Documents show that the Pilgrims used dried fruit, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg to season their meats. A cookbook from 1796 mentioned only three types of sweet pies; a cookbook written in the late 1800s had 8 sweet-pie varieties; in 1947, Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking listed 65 different varieties of sweet pies. The original pie had a shell that could not be eaten, and the apples did not have added sugar. The apple pie was mentioned first in 1589 by poet R Greene in the poem Menaphon: “They breath is like the steeme of apple pies.” Pies today are eaten the World over, and have all kinds of stuffing – from apples to avocados.

 

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When you were biting into a slice of your favourite pizza, did you ever wonder ever why this favourite food item is spelt and named so oddly? With its two Zs, you have to learn to pronounce it properly before you can order it. Say pit-zz-a to get it right!

The word pizza was first seen in English writing in the early 1800s, but lexicographer John Florio had described pizza as “a small cake or wafer” in his 1598 Italian-English dictionary. Pizza, as you can guess, is an Italian word. Some think the Greek pitta (pita, which means “bran bread”) is the source. Some think it is from the Langobardic (an ancient German language in northern Italy) bizzo, meaning “bite.”

 

Who made the first pizza?

The Italian version of the pizza (specially the one from Naples) is what we are most familiar with, and so most people think Italians invented the modern pizza. But baked bread with different toppings was being eaten long ago in different parts of the world. The pissaladiere from Provence, coca from Catalonia, and lahmacun from the Middle East look and taste the same as the modern pizza.

What is a pizza? It is a flat, open pie with a generous coating of tomato sauce and a heavy sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. It was first made by baker Raffaele Esposito in Naples. In 1889, he made a patriotic pie that was topped with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes to reflect the colours of the Italian flag, in honour of King Umberto and Queen Margherita’s visit. The story goes that the Queen loved the pie and it came to be called Margherita.

In the U.S., Italian immigrants began to sell pizza in their stores. The first pizzeria (Lombardi’s) was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi on Spring Street in New York City. But the wholesome dish became popular only after World War II. Why? American and European soldiers who had done duty in Italy had tasted the pizza and asked for pizzas to be served in restaurants when they returned home.

Is it a pie, a pizza, or a pizza pie?

On the East Coast of the U.S., you can call a pizza a “pie” or a “pizza pie.” The use of “pie” for “pizza” dates back to the 1800s. But outside the U.S., these terms are not used for pizza at all. In some places in the U.S., you can order a “Za”, which will be understood as the shortened form of the word pizza. (In grammar, such a shortening of a word is called a “clipping.”) How do we know a pizza is well-made? A pizzaiolo (a pizza maker) will judge a pizza by its leopard spots (the black spots on the crust) or its hole structure (the holes in the bread’s interior).

 

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From west Asia to China, meatballs are prepared and consumed in numerous ways. This dish has been part of ancient cuisines and is still adapted to appeal to people’s tastes.

HISTORY

Though it is difficult to trace the exact origin of meatballs, most food anthropologists believe one of the first meatballs was prepared in the Persian Empire between 6th and 7th Century BC. Known as kofte, these meatballs were mostly made with lamb or beef meat. “Kofte” is the Farsi word for pounded meat.

However, some experts suggest today’s meatballs are successors of minced meat balls prepared in the ancient Roman Empire. A collection of Roman recipes compiled in 4th and 5th Centuries A.D., known as “Apicius”, includes varieties of meatballs made with different types of meat.

The dish is believed to have spread across trade routes to reach Europe. By the 5th Century A.D., meatballs were believed to have been prepared across Italy. These Italian meatballs, called polpettes, were very similar to the recipes in “Apicius”.

Polpettes became a famous meal option among peasants, who could afford minced meat. These were rolled together into balls with other ingredients such as bread crumbs or mashed vegetables.

Meatballs were introduced in the U.S. by Italian immigrants who moved in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

The Italian polpettes, which were affordable for the then economically weak migrants, became their staple.

Tinned marinara sauce and spaghetti were eventually added to the meatballs recipe, to give rise to the famous dish. This new recipe became a fan favourite in a short span of time. Several restaurants were set up across the country to cater to the increasing demand for the dish.

TRANSCENDING CULTURES

Meatballs, known by different names, are a popular meal option in several countries across the world. In Sweden, meatballs known as kottbullar is topped with sauce and served with lingonberry jam. In Spain, spicy albondigas soaked in a tomato-based sauce is a famous appetiser.

The Chinese wan zi is made with a mixture of pork and vegetables such as water chestnuts and cabbage. These meatballs are added to clear broths. In Vietnam, balls of bo vien are added to pho (a noodle soup).

In Latin American countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Puerto Rico, meatballs are either added to a broth-based soup or served with bread.

In Turkey, kofte are a staple and served with almost every meal. In Israel, ktzitziot khubeza, a type of kofta, is pan-fried and served with a creamy dip.

In India, kofta is commonly found across States. Indian koftas are, however, not made just with meat. There are several vegetarian options too.

WIDE VARIETIES

From chicken, pork and fish to vegan meat, the ingredients used in making meatballs can vary.

Meatballs can such also be stuffed with items such as eggs, cheese, chopped vegetables and spaghetti. They can also be added to any dish ranging from soups, sandwiches and calzones to curries casseroles.

 

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Chikki, an Indian battle, has a significant role to play in most Indian States. In the northern region, chikkis are synonymous with winter snacking. Festivals such as Lohri and Makar Sankranti would be incomplete without the preparation of chikkis.

All the way from Lonavala

The origin of the popular chikki can be traced back to Lonavala in Maharashtra. In the late 1800s, when the first train tracks were being laid in Lonavala, several hundred workers were involved in strenuous physical work. Bhimraj Agaewal, a confectioner, made a dish he called gud dani, which comprised jiggery and peanuts to satisfy the hunger of the workers. He also made another variant with puffed rice instead of peanuts. This snack was easy to prepare and also gave the workers enough energy to work.

Soon, gud dani became popular among the workers and also the train services began, several people visited Agarwal for the confection.

Agarwal’s son Maganlal is said to have popularized the sweet treat. Maganlal opened several sweet shops across the region and they are extremely popular even today.

What’s in a name?

There are no evidences of how the snack came to be known as chikki. However, some food experts believe the word ‘chikki’ could be an adaptation of “chikat”, Marathi word for sticky”.

 Chikki is also known by different names across the country. In Tamil Nadu, it is known as kadalai mittai and ellurundai, and in Kerala, it is famously known as kapilandi mittai, ellunda and abhayaarthi katta. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it is called palli patti. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, this sweet is called layiya patti. In several northern States, apart from being known as chikki, it is also called gajak or maroonda.

Exciting flavours

Chikkis can be mad with a wide variety of ingredients ssuch as peanuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, sesame, dates, dry figs, coconuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, pistachios and dried rose petals. There are also several new flavours such as chocolate, peanut butter, berries and orange, being prepared in the last few years.

Chikkis are versatile and can be consumed by people with a wide variety of dietary preferences. Chikkis are also a healthy option for those who keep a count on their calorific intake because ingredients such as oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds can be used instead of peanuts and cashews.

 

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