is chef boyardee a real person

Lines wrapped around the block and customers begged to know the secrets of his signature dish - cooked-to-order spaghetti with homemade sauce and cheese. There has even been an internet rumor denying his existence, claiming that "Boyardee" was combination of the names of three food company executives; Boyd, Art and Dennis. And, perhaps most importantly, who is Chef Boyardee? At this time, Italian restaurants were just becoming immensely popular on the east and west coasts (thanks in large part to the influx of immigrants to these areas of the country) but it hadn't quite hit middle America yet. ", SLEEPYTIME TEA AND THE LITTLE-KNOWN RELIGION BEHIND IT, THE NOT-SO-AMERICAN HISTORY OF CHEEZ WHIZ. [1][2], After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Ettore Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia in 1924[3] at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. Italian Chefs Are Reinventing Risotto, and It's More Delicious Than Ever, Poet Charles Simic Paints a Self-Portrait with Spaghetti, Skyline Chili, and Cincinnati Chili in General, Explained by a Local As Best She Can, The 45 Biggest Food Trends of the Past 45 Years, You Can Ski to This Buzzy New Restaurant at Californias Most Famous Ski Resort, How Japanese Immigrants Shaped This Peruvian Food, You Can Eat 150 Years of Italian History on the Shores of Lake Como, The 25 Most Influential American Candy Bars of All Time, The Real Colonel Sanders Hated Everything that KFC Became, How Aleem Syed Returned to the Kitchen After a Life-Changing Tragedy, The Best Places to Eat Filipino Food in Every State, The People's Best New Chef: Midwest Contenders, becoming one of the most well-known hosts in the city, underground bunker for Congress in the case of nuclear war, wedding reception of President Woodrow Wilson to Edith Bolling Galt, Cleveland's famed and very popular Hotel Winton, becoming immensely popular on the east and west coasts. Again, I was 10 and you could have put me on the phone with the president of the US and I would care less (same goes for today). According to the company, Uncle Ben was a real rice grower known for high-quality product in founder Gordon Harwells native Texas, and the brand was named for him as an homage. As Anna Boiardi writes in her book, "I think it is fair to say that those three men (the Boiardi brothers), with no formal education and very little money, can be credited with bringing Italian food to America.". At first, the revised name was Boy-ar-dee, a phonetic spelling of how the family name was pronounced. Whether theres been a change of recipe, a decline in quality, or this is a case of misplaced nostalgia, we concede that Chef Boyardee products probably arent for everyone. He was born Ettore Boiardi (or Hector as he was called in English) in Piacenza Italy in 1897. Dean was already a well-known country singer, actor, and TV personality when he and his brother Don founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company in 1969. He later immigrating to America at the age of 16 and took the name Hector Boiardi as he passed through Ellis Island. His entrepreneurial skill became polished and well known when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translates as "The Garden of Italy", at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, in 1924. He died at the age of 87 in 1985. Fields began franchising in 1990 and then sold the business while staying on as the companys spokesperson. Born 119 years ago this month (October 22nd, 1897) in the northern Italian city of Piacenza (part of Italy's famous "food valley"), legend has it that cooking was so ingrained in Boiardi that he used a wire whisk as a rattle. Chef Boyardee pasta products contain no artificial ingredients, no artificial colors, and no preservativesjust the time-tested taste your family loves. He soon found his way into the kitchen of New York's famous Plaza Hotel, with help from older brother Paul, who worked there as a matre d'. There was only one problem: customers had a tough time pronouncing Ettore Boiardi's name. Mario Boiardi was a sharpshooter Army Ranger in WWII and later in the Korean War. Did you know this already? He said I run a restaurant in Cleveland and am catering parties by putting my spaghetti in a bucket. With all that said, it's pretty clear that Chef Boyardee was the real deal. Whats more: Hector Boiardi was a respected chef who even helped cater Woodrow Wilsons second wedding. Chef Boiardi was awarded a Gold Star Order of Excellence from the United States War Department for supplying millions of rations for American and Allied troops during WWII. Debbi Fields and her then-husband Randall opened their first bakery in 1977. At the time of his death in 1985, at the age of 87 years old, the Chef Boyardee line of food products was grossing over half a billion dollars per year. By age 11, he was working at a local restaurant. [1], On May 9, 1914, at the age of 16, he arrived at Ellis Island aboard La Lorraine, a ship of French registration. Boiardi used to grow his own tomatoes and mushrooms in the basement of the factory where his product line was produced. The name was created for the Washburn Crosby Company (which would later merge with other businesses to form General Mills) by Marjorie Husted as a way to personalize the companys products and customer relations. [3] The first product to be sold was a "ready-to-heat spaghetti kit" in 1928. Writes History.com: Il Giardino dItalia, The Garden of Italy in English, soon became one of Clevelands top eateries with customers regularly lining up to wait for tables and dine on Boiardis signature cooked-to-order spaghetti with its savoury sauce and tangy cheese. But his goal was always to sail across the Atlantic and join his brother Paul in America. He later learned more restaurant skills as an immigrant in Paris and London. When Hector opened his Italian restaurant in the 1920s, Italian food was foreign to Americans. THE #FAMOUSGRAVE OF #CHEFBOYARDEE IN CHARDON #OHIO Born in 1897 in the northern Italian region of Piacenza, Boiardi supposedly used a wire whisk for a rattle and by age 11 was working as an. I needed that information for ia project I am doing on Chef Boyardee. Great story. Cookie Policy And he's just one of the 33 grocery store brands named after real people. The 17 Real People Behind Your Favorite Food Brand Names Slideshow. Ettore "Hector" Boiardi (that's. Who Was Chef Boyardee? A Real, Italian-American Icon - Allrecipes It was confusing to some people and that was beginning to affect sales, staff, and customers so that is when the brothers decided it was best to anglicize their name to make it easier for others to recognize. While business was going well, Boiardi encountered a minor issue: salesmen and customers couldn't really pronounce his name. Pharmacist Charles Alderton developed the formula for Dr Pepper while working at W.B. After immigrating to America at the age of 16, he got a job at New Yorks Plaza Hotel, according to NPRs All Things Considered. The Facts Behind These Familiar Food Ads. Cookie Settings. Four years later, Boiardi and his brothers started the Chef Boyardee Company. 33 Grocery Store Staples Named After Real People In 1928, the Chef Boyardee Company was born. Ettore Boiardi was an Italian-American immigrant born in 1897. Famous Fake Food Figureheads - The Daily Meal Chef Boyardee is still on store shelves, but the Smurfs version is a thing of the past. Paul Boiardi had moved to America when Hector was a small boy and had quickly found a job waiting tables in New York's Parisian Room at the famous Plaza Hotel. Chef Boyardee Was a Real Person Who Brought Italian Food to America By Matt Blitz Published on June 22, 2017 Photo: Dorann Weber / Getty Images Colonel Sanders was real. Who Was General Tso (And Why Does He Have His Own Chicken)? Boiardi appeared in many print advertisements and television commercials for his brand in the 1940s through the 1960s. RELATED: 10 Discontinued Restaurant Dishes You Totally Forgot About 12 Trader Joe's Vegetable Chili Shutterstock Trader Joe's has discontinued several of its chili offerings, including the fan-favorite veggie chili. In less-racist mascot falsification, Betty Crocker was the product of a Saturday Evening Post contest, and KFC's Colonel Harlan Sanders never actually earned the military rank that many misattribute to him. Get all the top food rankings, new product reviews, and other grocery content delivered to your inbox every other week. Known affectionately as 'Chef Boyardee,' he founded his food franchise of products with his wife, Helen. Chef Boyardee Real. Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. He thus began bottling up his sauces in old milk bottles and packaging his special blends of cheeses and spices with dried pasta and selling these meal kits to customers. Had Chef Boyardee created the worlds first perpetual motion machine? Your email address will not be published. He is the great uncle of American author Anna Boiardi, who wrote Delicious Memories: Recipes and Stories from the Chef Boyardee Family. Ettore Boiardi was an Italian immigrant who worked as a chef in New York and West Virginia hotels (where he supposedly catered Woodrow Wilson's second wedding) before. As for how the whole iconic cheap canned pasta thing started, Ettore decided to help out by producing military rations for the troops overseas during World War II, which kind of sort of made him an American hero. Fast forward around 4 years and the volume of his carry out meals being sold per day required a factory to produce. A native of Piacenza, Italy, he was a world-renowned chef known for his many Italian dishes. Boiardi's product was soon being stocked in markets nationwide the company had to open a factory in 1928 to meet the demands of national distribution. For producing rations supplying Allied troops during World War II, he was awarded a Gold Star order of excellence[clarification needed] from the United States War Department.[8]. In the 1970s, friends suggested that Amos make cookies his full-time business. Below is a 1953 commercial featuring Chef Boyardee: And below the commercial from the 50s, is the whole history behind the Boyardee name: What do you think of the history behind the Chef Boyardee name? He became a food prodigy by age 11 in his native Italy, but later emigrated to New York City in 1915, where. And in 1928, the Chef Boyardee food company was born.. His name was Hector Boiardi, and he was born in Italy in 1897. In 1938, the company moved to Pennsylvania where it is still today. The 17 Real People Behind Your Favorite Food Brand Names Slideshow Chef Hector Boyardee was born in 1897 in Piacenza, Italy, not surprisingly with a very Italian name: Ettore Boiardi. TV Acres. He died on June 21, 1985, and today the company is owned by ConAgra, the conglomerate behind faves like Slims Jim, Reddi-wip, Vlasic pickles, PAM, Orville Redenbachers popcorn, and, like, a bajillion and three more food brands. Although the product sold well, the company name was a sticking point. 1. So, he changed the product's name to the phonetic Chef "Boy-Ar-Dee." [4] After sauce, their next product was closer to a complete pasta meal, including a canister of grated Parmesan cheese, a box of spaghetti, and a jar of pasta sauce, held together in cellophane plastic wrap. Their first product beyond simple sauce was prepackaged spaghetti dinners in clear cellophane covered containers that included a canister of grated parmesan cheese, a box of spaghetti and a large jar of spaghetti sauce. [17], In 2005, Chef Boyardee was shown in MasterCard's "Icons" commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX, which depicts advertising mascots having dinner together. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. While Boiardi's culinary resume was already quite impressive by the time he relocated to Cleveland, that's where his transformation from Ettore Boiardi to Chef Boyardee began in earnest. Question: Which of these company figureheads is not a real person? The take-out business got big enough that the family started thinking about selling their sauce on a larger scale. I usually avoid commenting on all the grammar mistakes, but this one is really bad: in the first paragraph, He later immigrating to America at the age of 16 should be He later immigrated to America at the age of 16. They even hired a former slave, Nancy Green, to be the first spokesperson. He and his wife would hand them out using old milk bottles. I was at a friends house and his father was an actual good friend of the Chef. Boiardi originally grew his trademark mustache to try to make himself look older as he was generally the youngest cook in the often top notch restaurants where he was a cook at, starting around 16 when he moved to America. Advertising Notice By clicking submit you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Let us know! American Home Foods was eventually acquired by the conglomerate ConAgra Foods, which still owns the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee brand today. In 1938, production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, where they could grow enough tomatoes to serve the factory's needs,[5] which reached 20,000 tons of tomatoes per season at peak production; they also began growing their own mushrooms on location in the plant. The rechristened companys first factory was located in Milton, Pennsylvania, writes NPR. Baker Charles Lubin owned a small chain of Chicago bakeries in the early 20th century. Today I found out Chef Boyardee was a real person. ", By 1936, the company had outgrown the Cleveland plant and moved to a large swath of land in Milton, Pennsylvania where they could grow their own tomatoes. Wallace Amos was a entertainment talent agent who worked at the William Morris Agency. With all that in mind, it's natural to be skeptical of the origins and credentials of any food company mascot. That image is instead said to be based on the matre d' of the restaurant where Harwell and his business partners sometimes met. For its founder, see, "The Man, The Can: Recipes Of The Real Chef Boyardee", "Your favorite food icons: Fact or fiction? Weird History Food will follow Chef from his humble beginnings as an 11-year-old apprentice to the iconic figure he is today.. These names are probably all over your kitchenbut did they belong to real people? Clevelander Chef Boyardee (born Ettore Boiardi and known as Hector Boyardee after moving to the United States) found his rhythm right here in Ohio, a state he was not native to but that he effortlessly adopted the culture of. JUSTICE LEAGUE and all related characters and elements & DC Comics. Real. Is Chef Boyardee Actually Three People? | Snopes.com keep up the great work! Based on that strength, Consolidated Foods adopted the name Sara Lee for the whole corporation. We've all had at least one meal from Chef Boyardee. According to his New York Times obituary, Boiardi handled the catering at the reception for Woodrow Wilson's second marriage in 1915, still the most recent example of a presidential wedding. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Jessica Block is a freelance contributor to Sporked, a comedian, a baker, a food writer, and a firm believer that Trader Joe's may just be the happiest place on earth. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Milton, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1928. Far from some dated Italian caricature, "Hector" was actually a model immigrant who made his name cooking for discerning diners in New York and Cleveland not to mention a sitting president long before his likeness ever graced a can of Beefaroni. At the persuasion of a couple of restaurant regulars, including a couple who owned a local grocery store chain, Boiardi built a small canning and processing plant in Cleveland. With his brothers Mario and Paul, Chef Hector starts the Chef Boyardee Company. Unlike the friendly but fictional food faces of Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, Chef Boyardee that jovial, mustachioed Italian chef is real. He also held a degree in business and co-owned a steel mill with his father. When he began selling jars and cans of his tomato sauce, he chose to do so under a name that Americans could pronounce more easily: "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" (later changed to Chef Boyardee). Which of these company figureheads is not a real person? chef boyardee Also, if you give her a bag of Takis she will be your best friend. [18], In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was brought against the Chef Boyardee company. Among his products was a cheesecake named after his young daughter, Sara Lee Lubin. Did You Know Chef Boyardee Was a Real Person? | Kitchn The plaintiff who filed the class-action lawsuit was demanding more than $5 million in damages. Gotta watch out for gold diggers (especially today) but I also think he was his own man and wanted to be known for himself and not the family business. Weird History Food took a look at this impressive career, explaining, Chef Hector Boyardee was born in 1897 in Piacenza, Italy, not surprisingly with a very Italian name: Ettore Boiardi. So impressed with Boiardi's cooking, Wilson chose him to supervise the homecoming meal of 2,000 returning World War I soldiers in late 1918. He dubbed the canned and bottled products Chef Boy-Ar-Dee to help consumers pronounce his name. So he changed his last name's spelling to make it easier to pronounce, slapped it on a can, and boom, Chef Boyardee was born. The Chef Boyardee brand was created by a real Italian chef, Ettore Boiardi. Chef Hector plays a major role on the home front by making food for the troops. Real or Fake: The Names Behind 12 Famous Food Brands - Mental Floss He even got a Gold Star for it. The lawsuit alleged false advertisement on the part of Chef Boyardee. He made quite the impression amongst diners as Italian food wasnt quite as widespread as it is today. Bummer. At the age of 11, he was working as an apprentice chef at local restaurant "La Croce Bianca", although his duties were confined to non-cooking odd jobs such as potato peeling and dealing with the trash. Real. Soon enough, patrons were asking if they could start making the recipes at home themselves. In other cases, they were created by advertising agencies to give a friendly face to a faceless company. [19] The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016.[20]. It was also around the time that Boiardi sold to the conglomerate American Home Products. (Clearly, the spelling change was to help consumers know how to pronounce his name.) The wedding, which took place after a brief courtship, was held at Galts Washington, D.C. home. The Unhealthiest Canned Foods on the Planet | Eat This Not That Smashing 20,000 tons of tomatoes a season, the Milton factory produced upwards of 250,000 cans of sauce a day. So, using milk bottles, he packaged up the sauce and sent them off. What is Chef Boyardee? Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Chef Boyardee JUMBO Spaghetti & Meatballs Per 1 cup (255 g): 280 calories, 13 g fat (4.5 g saturated fat), 700 mg sodium, 29 g carbs (3 g fiber, 8 g sugar), 11 g protein Who knew that spaghetti and meatballs could come with 8 grams of sugar? Italy's postwar government went one step further, not only awarding him a cross of honor, but also bestowing the title "king of the spaghetti dinner." Just remember one thing, lets part friends. He looked at me and said, What the hell are you talking about? He put his hand into my trolley cart, pulled out a can and said, this is my father. We both cried.. Anthony!") About Us | Chef Boyardee It started out when he was an apprentice at a restaurant in Italy when he was just 11 years old, prior to his departure for New York. Their product labels stated that they contained no preservatives, yet they contained citric acid. Boiardi quickly rose through the ranks, earning a spot as the Plaza's head chef just a year later. The company, which is today known for its canned meals, especially its ravioli, has changed hands a number of times since. There are now more than 650 Mrs. Fields stores in the U.S. Real. The restaurant was called Il Giardino dItalia, which means The Garden of Italy. However, demand for his sauce became too great and soon Boiardi realized that perhaps it was this "take-home" industry that was his future. "There are people that are working, and their kids have to come home and make something for themselves," Boiardi told NPR, "even when I was growing up and my mom is a fabulous cook she would open up a can of Chef Boyardee for us on certain nights when there just wasn't enough time. The Weiners helped the Boiardi brothers develop a process for canning the food at scale. Real Or Fake: 21 Famous Brand Namesakes Revealed - Purple Clover Colonel Sanders was real. Others, like Mr. Coffee, well, we don't think they were trying to fool anyone with that one. Records from the store show that theyd played around with a similar name before, and had a recipe for a digestive aid called D. By the late 1930s, Hector was headed east to set up his kitchen in Milton, Pennsylvania . Even though its now a household name, the people of still have very sentimental memories of Chef Boyardee. very interesting. In some cases, the name simply sounds good. German immigrant brothers Oscar, Gottfried, and Max Mayer ran a butcher shop in Chicago in the early 20th century, which was one of the first companies to get on board with the USDAs new meat inspection grades. May your love of pasta continue to inspire cooks for generations to come even if they're just using a microwave. When it comes to food brands and their human "mascots," you really can't believe everything you see. [2] The patrons of Il Giardino d'Italia frequently asked for samples and recipes of his spaghetti sauce, so he filled cleaned milk bottles.[3]. So in order to make the fledgling business more palatable to American eaters, the company became Chef "Boy-Ar-Dee" to phoneticize the spelling. With the stock market crashing a year after the company's launch, the Great Depression was a boon for Chef Boyardee and its inexpensive, prepackaged meals, which helped to bring Italian food to the masses. Chef Boyardee REAL:An Italian immigrant, Chef Ettore Boiardi had a restaurant in Cleveland.