Fun foods...past and future

Food. We hunger for it and we need it to sustain life. In the
beginning, for mankind, the act of eating was a brutal means of
extending your bleak life. From hunting down the saber-toothed or
mastodons to ripping into the cold uncooked flesh. Needless to say,
we've come along ways as far as the human race goes. So far that not
only is food easily available without all the work of hunting it or
staring…but now food has become associated with fun! I say this
because now we're doing amazing things with food that our hair-covered
ancestors would have never dreamed of. I came to this realization the
other day at work. I was tearing into a bag of funyuns…which is of
course onion ring flavored snacks. I thought to myself. John…which is
strange because my name is actually Travis…but hey it's MY internal
monologue and that's none of your concern...oh I know what you're
thinking…this guy is crazy right...well think what you will but I will
not be oppressed. Let's see where was I here. Ah, yes. So upon eating
these funyuns I was AMAZED at how much these lovely snacks actually
tasted like onion rings. Not only did they taste like onion rings, but
they sincerely looked like them. It's incredible that food and science
has come as far as to imitate onion rings as accurate as this. I then
pondered…if making "onion ring-esque" snacks weren't enough. Somebody
actually invented the onion ring. How did that come about I wonder?
Well it's funny that I ask…the onion ring has a bit of controversy
surrounding its invention. Much like terrorist acts, there are two
parties laying claim to inventing the onion ring. Now let me rephrase
this slightly, there are two parties laying claim to "DEVELOPING" the
onion ring. Apparently one party a Mr. Sam Quigley began the process
of perfecting the onion ring in 1955 where eventually he sold them in
small amounts in his Nebraska storefront. The other story of
development claims that Pig Stand Restaurants a food chain with Texas
origins, invented the onion ring in 1920's. Ok you're probably
wondering the same thing I'm wondering. How in the world did someone
think to invent the onion ring? Well…I did some digging. According to
the Pig Stand Restaurants' history, it was an accident. Apparently in
1929 a clumsy cook accidentally dropped a ring of onion destined for a
hamburger into a bow of batter. Then he thought for a second and
picked it up, threw in vegetable oil. And there you go...the onion
ring. Now I have some doubts about the creditability of this account
because the same source also claims that The Pig Stand Restaurant was
the first restaurant to offer the following things: Curb side drive in
service, the first restaurant use of neon lights, air-conditioning in
restaurants, as well as the first use of fluorescent lighting. Oh but
wait there's other food innovations that sprung from the seemingly
common restaurant. Texas toast is another credited to a Mr. Royce
Hailey...a former carhop turned food inventor. Not long after the
creation of Texas toast, Hailey struck again when a breaded and fried
piece of steak found it's way between two buns and became ever known
as "Chicken Fried Steak". Now this source conveniently states that Mr.
Royce Hailey, food visionary never thought to trademark any of his
ideas therefore the fame spread of his creation, unfortunately no
credit. Nor money followed. I understand though Mr. Hailey…you are an
ARTISTE! Money was not your motivator; it was the love of the food. I
think that counts for something.
Now that was a long way to go to find out the story behind the onion
ring, nonetheless I'm going to bring the pondering back around full
circle now. Food is now thought of as fun. Do you think that people in
the 1950's would have dreamed of having multi-colored ketchups? What
about Smucker's Goober spread…which is of course the peanut butter
together in the same jar. Would our grandfathers have dreamed of spray
butter? How about Lunchables, the quick meal in a box, which kids
love. I guess my point is that food has grown beyond being a necessity
for living; it's become almost a toy. The marketing of food now has a
creative team. "Gee bob I wonder if you could some how actually put
mosquitoes into mesquite bbq sauce...then have "now with real
mosquitoes" on the label".
I'm not so sure that I have any problems with creative and fun food, I
mean, I'm a creative person and respect intelligent creative thinking.
I think I'm more concerned that the food industry is running out of
real work and that their now playing god with our somewhat simpler
foods. Don't believe me…. well perhaps you don't remember the square
watermelons that the Japanese were toying with? What scientific
purpose are experiments like that serving anyways? Food can be fun,
that's for sure, but when you have to spend that much time making food
fun, That's when I begin to get worried. I get worried what the future
of food ideas may hold. Who's going to be the next food visionary such
as Mr. Royce Hailey, who will bring the next food innovation into this
great world? Whose name will forever live in…well I guess not fame...I
had to do a lot of research to find out about Mr. Royce Hailey…so to
rephrase once again…. Whose name will forever live buried deeply in
google search results…as a food visionary? I simply do not know.