There was a pizza chef in a popular city pizzeria who always joked when someone walked out with the warm box, “Keep it straight!” That, of course is a given. The shape of the box, however, is not a given. And you have likely come across this inevitable question while browsing the Internet: if the pizza is round, why is the box square? Packaging is our first stop on today’s overview of food facts.
Am I paying for chips or for air?
We begin this short but informative journey with potato chips. We all understand that these must be packaged in a manner that prevents them from arriving at their destination in the form of confetti we need to eat with a spoon. Air does the trick. Or does it? As prices go up, we imagine some commercial scheme and ask, “Why is there more air than chips in this bag?” In truth, bags of chips and other crunchy snacks are filled with nitrogen, not oxygen. Plain oxygen would allow natural oils to turn your delicious chips rancid while sitting on store shelves.
It just does not taste the same anymore!
Speaking of salty snacks, ever notice how treats you loved as a child simply do not taste the same anymore. In the case of commercial snacks, this may be attributed to changing ingredients. But when a trusted family recipe looses its appeal, or you suddenly love a food you would never allow close to you previously, you begin to question the little quirks of aging.
Taste buds do diminish with age, but our sense of smell is far more involved in our appreciation of taste, and so when we think a food no longer tastes the same, it is in fact because it no longer smells the same. Smell receptors age faster than taste buds.
Chickens are ancient; chicken wings are only 55.
Unless you grew up on a farm, living with hunters, or living the homesteader lifestyle, you’d probably have to have been born after 1964 to see a chicken wing on your dinner plate. Before this, the lean appendage was reserved for soup stock or thrown to the dogs. All it took was a burst of flavor and clever marketing to change the fate of the wing. The first dish of Buffalo Wings was served at Anchor Bar, Buffalo, New York, in 1964. Some claim it was a creative solution when the wrong shipment of chicken parts showed up. A more likely scenario is told by the late creator’s son, who recalls his mother whipping them together as a late-night snack for him and friends.
Tomorrow is THUESDAL at JPD (depending on when you read this and whether JPD still serves the same menu). That means you can get a FREE small Cheese Pizza with any large. A side of Wings is a most satisfying addition to this feast. Variations on this winged theme include: Mild, Med, Hot, Pain in the Ass, BBQ, Cajun Dry Rub and Honey Garlic. They are served with Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing. And to think people used to throw them wings away!
Psst! Here’s the JPD Menu.
158 MAIN 