10 Foods Named After People

Published on November 10, 2009 by Alistair Briggs in Food

Here we will take a look at 10 foods that were named after people. Have you ever tasted any of these? Were you aware of the people they were named after?

Beef Wellington

On paper, at least, the thought of pate, beef, mushrooms, pastry and Madeira wine doesn’t sound too appetising. The 1st Duke of Wellington’s chef had other ideas. He created it, the Duke liked it and the dish took off from there.

Bloody Mary

This cocktail was named after Mary I, Queen of England from 1553-1558. Mary was famed for restoring Roman Catholicism to the country and earned the name ‘bloody’ after she had 300 dissenters burnt at the stake. The cocktail itself wasn’t created until the 1920’s.

Image via Wikipedia

Chicken a la King

If you are looking for some kind of link to royalty here you will be sadly disappointed. Originally, this was first named ‘Chicken a la Keene’ after James R Keene (a wealthy American) stayed at Claridges Hotel in 1881. How it became known as King instead of Keene is anyone’s guess.

Crepe Suzette

Rumour has it that this culinary delight was created entirely by accident. While cooking pancakes for Edward VII and his partner Suzette, the chef accidentally spilled some liqueur onto the pancakes. Managing to ‘cover-up’ the mistake with some styling, a new dish was created.

Lady Curzon Soup

Lady Curzon, the wife of Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (Viceroy of India), was entertaining one night but one of her guests was a teetotaller. Faced with the thought of not being able to serve wine at the table, she ordered the turtle soup to be laced with sherry and a new dish was created.

Margherita pizza

The Margherita pizza was invented by Raffaele Esposito in 1889. The Napolitan pizza baker created his pizza based on the colours of the Italian flag; tomatoes (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green). He was a very patriotic kind of fellow, hence the naming of his creation after the Queen.

Pavlova

This meringue, fruit and cream creation is named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. The Australians and the Kiwis are still fighting over which country can claim to have invented it.

Peach Melba

This culinary delight was created by Auguste Escoffier and consists of ice cream, peach and raspberry. The reason for its creation was to soothe the voice of Australian opera star Dame Nellie Melba.

Image via Wikipedia

Tarte Tatin

This apple pudding is sometimes also known as Demoiselles Tatin. Sisters Demoiselles and Lamotte Beuvron ran the Hotel Tatin during the 19th century. One day, Lamotte made an apple tart but for some reason made it upside down. The Tatin was created.

Tournedos Rossini

Gioachino Rossini, the Italian composer, once had an entire menu of dishes named in his honour by Escoffier. The Tournedos Rossini, the fillet steak and foie-gras dish, was dedicated to Rossini by either Antoin Careme or Casimir Moisson.

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Tags: beef wellington, bloody mary, chicken a la king, crepe suzette, Food, lady curzon soup, margherita pizza, pavlova, peach melba, tarte tatin, tournedos rossini