Your 15 October food & drink takeaways
An inventor’s designs on the breakfast of the future, the hangover cure that brought a famous duo together and a towering Michelin-star chef.
Just some of food & drink delights that 15 October brings to the table.
Click on the links for extra helpings.
A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations
Food firsts
1895
American inventor Henry D. Perky receives a US patent for ‘design of a biscuit' – a move leading to the creation of Shredded Wheat {header photo} by ‘cookless breakfast food’ pioneers Cereal Machine Company.
"The general form of the biscuit. . . is that of a parallelogram, and when vlewed lu end elevation or cross-section is a flattened oval with slight crosses along the longitudinal edges, its distinguishing characteristic being mainly. . . its fibrous interstitial appearance."
Food in writing
The comic novelist who created the illustrious pairing of bachelor Bertie Wooster with his pre-eminent manservant Jeeves – P. G. Wodehouse – was born on this day in 1881.
In his 1917 short story Jeeves Takes Charge, Wodehouse details how the relationship was born over a Prairie Oyster hangover cure. Jeeves arrives via an agency after Bertie - nursing 'a morning head' - had requested a valet.
‘If you would drink this, sir,’ he said, with a kind of bedside manner, rather like the royal doctor shooting the bracer into the sick prince. ‘It is a little preparation of my own invention. It is the Worcester Sauce that gives it its colour. The raw egg makes it nutritious. The red pepper gives it its bite. Gentlemen have told me they have found it extremely invigorating after a late evening.’ …
For a moment I felt as if somebody had touched off a bomb inside the old bean and was strolling down my throat with a lighted torch, and then everything seemed suddenly to get all right. The sun shone in through the window; birds twittered in the tree-tops; and generally speaking, hope dawned once more.
‘You’re engaged!’ I said, as soon as I could say anything. …
‘Thank you, sir. My name is Jeeves.’
Food birthdays
1959
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
English member of the extended British Royal Family, philanthropist, TV personality, children's author, Weight Watchers ambassador and cookbook author, Dining with the Duchess: Making Everyday Meals a Special Occasion
1959
American celebrity chef, restaurateur, TV personality and cookbook author
1964
"World-renowned French chef Frédéric Anton is a master in the culinary arts, boasting three Michelin stars and the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France. His career, which began in 1984, has made him a culinary icon, known for his refined and innovative aesthetic."
He is now the chef at Le Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower
