Food & drink takeaways - 1 September
A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations
British viewers meet their first television chef, decaffeinated coffee is born and tofu wins national appreciation.
Just some of the delights that 1 September brings to the food and drink table.
Click on the links for extra helpings.
Food on screen
1947
English chef Philip Harben {header photo} is billed as ‘the television chef’ in a new series of his BBC cooking programme, Cookery
“Philip Harben made his first appearance in the programme billed simply as “Cookery” on 12th June 1946. (The show went out at 8.55pm and ran ten minutes — he made lobster vol-au-vent). It was on 1 Sep 1947 that his appearances were billed as being by ‘the television Chef’ and it was from that date that he was described as such in his own programme.”
2007
Director Jason Reitman’s film Juno starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera premieres at the Telluride Film Festival in the US.
In her book Reel Cuisine: Blockbuster Dishes from the Silver Screen (published by Vertical Inc) film food stylist and writer Nami Ijima praises the comedic approach of Juno to the sensitive issue of teenage pregnancy, adding:
“Juno’s appetite is impressive – in one scene she orders two hamburgers, chicken, potatoes, salad and a soda.”
Reel Cuisine includes a recipe for the baked potatoes that appeared on their dinner table.
Food firsts
1908
A method to produce decaffeinated coffee patented in the US by Johann Friedrich Meyer, Ludwig Roselius and Karl Wimmer of Bremen, Germany.
"Not only was Kaffee Hag the very first brand of decaffeinated coffee, but in 1908 founder Ludwig Roselius secured two U.S. patents. . .for extracting caffeine from green coffee beans without materially impairing the coffee's aromatic quality. . . the brand pioneered decaffeinated coffee and even became synonymous with decaf."
Celebration days
"The humble soybean-based food is so versatile it can be used in anything from desserts to meat replacements and is just as good on its own."
UK: Scottish Food & Drink September
“Uzbeks celebrate whenever possible, and parties usually consist of a large meal ending with palov {a rice-and-meat dish synonymous with Uzbek cuisine throughout the former Soviet Union}”
Unofficial
USA: Cherry Popover Day
