Food & drink takeaways – 10 September
A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations
An artist’s celebration of ‘maligned’ English cuisine, a long-running season of convenience eating premieres and it’s a day to raise a glass to port wine.
Just some of the food and drink delights for which we must thank 10 September.
Click on the links for extra helpings.
Food in art
Beryl Cook – 'self-taught English painter of distinctive scenes of people enjoying themselves' {header photo} – was born on this day in 1926.
"Cook typically painted working-class subjects in places that would feel familiar: the pub, the market, the picnic in the park. Crucially, she often depicted those subjects enjoying classic English meals – fish and chips, fry-ups, pasties – celebrating vernacular English cuisine at a time when it was being maligned."
Food firsts
1953
In America, C.A. Swanson & Sons introduce the frozen TV dinner. The first one contains turkey, mashed potatoes, and peas, and sells for 98 cents
"The Swanson “TV Dinner,” which hit grocery store cases on September 10, 1953, was an immediate success. In 1954, Swanson sold more than 10 million units, and the next year, 25 million. Sales grew exponentially from there, as Americans quickly warmed to the idea of noshing on convenient, pre-made Salisbury steak or pot roast in front of 'I Love Lucy' or 'Gunsmoke.'"
Celebration days
"Port Wine (referred to as port) is a type of fortified wine made in the Douro Valley region in Portugal. Essentially, there are three reasons that really set it apart from other types of wine; the location, the grapes, and the fortification process."
"Calentita is a simple unleavened bread made from chickpea flour and olive oil. It has been eaten in Gibraltar for generations."
UK: National Rice Week (9-15 Sep)
UK: Scottish Food & Drink September
UK: Fairtrade Fortnight (9-22 Sep)
Unofficial
USA: TV Dinner Day
USA: Caramel Cheesecake Day
