Name That Dish

Cobb Salad

The owner of the Brown Derby, a Hollywood, California restaurant, Bob Cobb created the delicious Cobb Salad in the 1930s. Looking for a midnight snack he took what was available in the kitchen like hard-boiled eggs, salad greens, chicken breast, avocado, chopped bacon, tomatoes, and Roquefort cheese. He tossed it all together added salt and pepper and made a vinaigrette out of olive oil, red vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce.

The salad tasted so good he put it on the menu and it became a favorite of such Hollywood stars like Lucille Ball and Clark Gable. The restaurant is now closed but Cobb Salad remains a staple of American cuisine.

Pizza Margherita

Queen Margherita of Savoy and her husband King Umberto were in Naples, Italy in 1889. When the royal couple came to his restaurant Chef Raffaele Esposito made them three special pizzas. Queen Margherita especially loved the pizza with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella and the chef named the pizza in her honor. Today Pizza Margherita is one of the most popular varieties of pizza in the world.

Bananas Foster

The chef of a famous restaurant named Brennan's in New Orleans, Louisiana created a dessert with bananas, rum, and ice cream in 1951. This delectable dessert consists of bananas sauteed in rum, brown sugar, banana liqueur, butter, and spices. When the bananas become tender and start to brown the alcohol is set on fire with the famous flambe technique.

It is usually served with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. The chef who created it Paul Belange named it in honor of Stephen Foster, a local businessman who often came to the restaurant.

Beef Wellington

Legend has it that the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and when he became a public hero his chef created a dish to honor him.

The dish is a complex one with a whole beef fillet trimmed, seasoned and left to marinate overnight. The next day it is browned then covered with pate, usually foie gras, and duxelles a mixture of finely chopped mushrooms, onions, shallots, ad spices sauteed in butter until it becomes a paste. Then the beef and ingredients are covered by a thin sheet of phyllo dough that is firmly closed sealing everything inside it and baked.

Caesar Salad

On the weekend of the Fourth of July, Chef Caesar Cardini was running short of supplies in his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico. He had some basic ingredients and he put them together. It was a combination of olive oil, parmesan cheese, lettuce, and eggs. Tossing it all together he had a delectable salad.

To prepare Caesar salad just right the Romain lettuce is chilled in the fridge and the leaves are placed in a bowl whole. Garlic cloves are crushed and cubes of croutons from French Bread are baked in the oven until golden brown. The Parmesan should be freshly grated. Other seasonings include Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, salt, and pepper. To complete the salad lemon juice and one raw egg is added and the salad is gently tossed to combine all the ingredients.

Eggs Benedict

A New York City stockbroker, Lemuel Benedict went to the Waldorf Hotel to have breakfast in 1894. He was having a hard time curing his hangover so he ordered a customized dish. The dish included bacon, toast, hollandaise sauce, and poached eggs. It was so delicious that the chef put it one the menu as Eggs Benedict.

The dish is a popular breakfast or brunch meal that is served with two halves of toasted English muffin topped with a slice of bacon or ham, a poached egg, and covered with hollandaise sauce.

Another story about the creation of Eggs Benedict is that chef Charles Ranhofer of the Delmonico's restaurant created it in the 1860s. He had a regular customer Mrs LeGrand Benedict who asked to have something new to eat so he created the dish for her.

Nachos

A boy named Nacho was working at a club in Piedras Negras, Mexico in 1943. One evening some soldiers and their wives came in to have dinner but the club had run short of food for everyone. Inventive Nacho took tortillas and cut them into pieces, sprinkled them with cheese and jalapenos and put them into the oven. The dish known as nachos was born.

Today nachos are a popular snack especially in bars with cold drinks. They are easy to prepare. Tortilla triangles are brushed with oil and baked in an over or under a broiler. When the tortillas are cooler they are topped with grated cheese, pickled jalapeno peppers and baked again to melt the cheese. Usually, they are served with dips like sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and ranch dressing. Today there are many variations on the original recipe.

Chicken Tetrazzini

The chef Ernest Arbogast at the Palace Hotel in San Franciso, California created Chicken Tetrazzini for famous opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini. She was making her debut at the Tivoli as Gilda in the opera Rigoletto on January 11, 1905.

Chicken Tetrazzini a popular American dish is prepared with diced chicken or seafood and mushrooms in a butter/cream and cheese sauce flavored with wine or sherry. The dish is served over linguini, spaghetti, egg noodles or other kinds of pasta. It is prepared in a casserole dish and topped with breadcrumbs for a browned crust when baked.

Salisbury Steak

Salisbury steak was named after American physician James H. Salisbury who did not think eating raw meat was a good idea. He suggested grilling ground beef patties seasoned with salt, pepper, horseradish, or lemon juice. The dish became popular by 1889.

Today Salisbury steak is prepared by mixing ground meat with onions, eggs, milk or water and breadcrumbs or flour. The meat is formed into patties and fried. When ready the dish is accompanied by onion or mushroom gravy and a side of mashed potatoes.

Fettucini Alfredo

Chef Alfredo Di Lelio created Fettucini Alfredo in 1914 for his wife who was feeling weak after giving birth. To help her regain her strength he made a creamy sauce with cream, cheese, and butter and tossed it with Fettucini pasta. He later added to the menu at this restaurant.

Legend tells the story of American silent movie stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks who honeymooned in Rome, Italy in the late 1920s. They fell in love with this delectable dish and prepared it for friends when they returned to Hollywood.

Soon Fettucini Alfredo became an Italian-American classic.

Chicken a la King

A chef named George Greenwald created a dish for the owner of the hotel he worked at. The owner E. Clark King and his wife enjoy the delicious chicken dish so much that they asked the chef to add it to the menu. This is but one of other stories of its origin.

Chicken a la King is a delectable dish that is prepared with diced chicken meat, cream sauce, vegetables, and sherry mushrooms. It is served over rice, noodles, or buttered toast.

Crab Louis

The origins of Crab Louis differ but what does not is that it is a delicious salad. One account if that it was created in America on the western coast during WW II. Another story says that the dish was invented earlier and was named after King Louis XIV.

One way or another Crab Louis is an American salad that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. It is prepared with Dungeness crab meat, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, and Louie dressing made with chilli sauce and mayonnaise.

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is an upside-down dessert that was created by two sisters in their hotel in France during the 19th century. This is an open-faced pie that is prepared with apples, sugar, and butter for the filling and flour, water, egg, butter and salt for the dough. First, the caramel is prepared with butter and sugar in the tart pan. Then apple quarters are arranged on top in two layers and baked in the oven for 30 minutes. The tarte is finished by topping it with pate brisee (the pie dough) placed on the apples and baked until golden.