It’s often said necessity is the mother of invention, but when you look at how some of our favourite foods came into being – mozzarella, crisps and chocolate brownies, for example – we would vouch that curiosity, clumsiness and error is the most guaranteed formula. Here we explore the beloved products and dishes that nearly didn’t happen, from the present day going all the way back to 2000 BC.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the favourite foods that almost didn’t happen.
The tuna melt is a staple at sandwich shops, diners and cafés all over the world, but you might be surprised to hear it was invented by a happy accident in South Carolina in the 1960s. According to local legend, a lunch counter cook at a Woolworth's branch in Charleston was slammed with orders when a bowl of tuna salad fell on top of a grilled cheese sandwich. Instead of throwing it away, the cook discovered the joy of this crowd-pleasing flavour combination – and the rest is history.
The invention of this flavourful sauce goes all the way back to 1888 in Nanshui, China when chef Lee Kum Sheung was busy running his popular food stall. In an accident that would launch a food empire, he forgot about a pot of oyster soup he’d put on the stovetop and left it to simmer gently. Hours later, realising his mistake, he discovered the soup had reduced to a thick, brown paste, with a deeply savoury taste. He began selling it as oyster sauce, and it proved a huge hit. These days Lee Kum Sheung produces over 200 Chinese-style sauces, and continues to be run as a family business by the Lee family.
Loved for their tart flavour and crisp texture, Granny Smiths are one of the most beloved apple varieties worldwide, but they almost didn’t exist at all. The apple originated in Australia in the 1860s when Maria Ann Smith, a local orchardist known as ‘Granny’ Smith, discovered a chance seedling growing in her garden in Ryde, a suburb of Sydney. The story goes that Maria found the seedling growing among some discarded crab apple cores in her garden. She cultivated it, and the resulting apple had a unique taste and firm texture that set it apart from other apple varieties of the time.
These days you’ll struggle to find a Caesar salad that isn’t dressed up with delicious extras like chicken, bacon and prawns, but the classic recipe is a much simpler affair. It is said to have been created by Caesar Cardini, an Italian chef, in Tijuana, Mexico. The story goes that business at his restaurant was so good on 4th July 1924 that the kitchen ran out of everything except lettuce, cheese, bread, and the wherewithal for an egg-based dressing with a kick of Worcestershire sauce. The resulting salad was named after him and went on to become a classic dish.
According to Italian legend, mozzarella was created by accident in Naples when curdled milk fell into a pot of boiling water at a cheese factory near Naples. The result: a delightfully smooth ball of fresh, milky cheese that has become the world’s favourite pizza topping.
Can’t imagine a world without buffalo wings? You only have to look back 60 years, as the accidental invention of deep-fried spicy wings served with celery and blue cheese dip can be almost indisputably traced to The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, in 1964. Owner Teresa Bellissimo had meant to order chicken necks for the restaurant’s spaghetti sauce, but instead received a shipment of wings, so thought up a new dish to avoid wasting them.
There are a few claims on the invention of the crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside creation that is the chocolate brownie. But the story favoured by many and cited in Betty Crocker's Baking Classics, is that home economist Mildred Brown Schrumpf in Bangor, Maine was baking a chocolate cake and it deflated. The reason? She allegedly forgot to add baking powder.
Champagne wasn’t always the epitome of good taste, it was once considered the result of shoddy wine-making. In fact, 17th century wine makers spent a lot of time trying to get the bubbles out of the fizzy drink. However, eventually they grew to love it and when French monk Dom Pierre Perignon cracked the perfect formula he famously said "Come quickly! I am drinking the stars!", although this part may have been added to the story later.
Legend has it blue cheese was invented by accident when a drunken cheese maker left behind a half-eaten loaf of bread in a cheese cave. On returning, he discovered the mouldy bread had transferred, to the cheese turning it blue – and surprisingly delicious. These days, it’s made under more controlled circumstances with specific bacteria.
Despite earlier attempts to crack the ready-meal market, it wasn’t until Swanson Foods made a royal business blunder that left it with 520,000lbs (2,356 tonnes) of excess turkey after Thanksgiving in 1953, that TV dinners successfully made it into American homes. Annoyed bosses requested staff think up a way to avoid wasting it. A ready meal that looked like a TV was the answer.
Did you know, the inventor of the Popsicle, the much-loved summertime treat, was an 11-year-old child? In 1905, Frank Epperson left a cup of soda with a stirring stick in it outside on the porch overnight – when he went out the next morning it had frozen. Frank called his invention the ‘Epsicle’, because it was like an icicle, and later made it for his own kids who called it ‘Pop’s ‘sicle’. The catchy name was patented in 1923.
The sandwich is named after John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, an 18th century English nobleman. It’s said he couldn't leave a gambling game he was playing, so requested his servant bring him meat between two pieces of bread. The meal caught on and people started saying "I’ll have the same as Sandwich".
The most recognised story of the ice cream float dates back to the late 19th century when Robert Green, owner of a soda shop in Philadelphia, would use carbonated water, syrup and cream to make drinks. However, one day he ran out of cream and used ice cream instead. There are a few other contenders to this story, including George Guy (one of Robert Green’s own employees) who claims he was the inventor.
Everyone's favourite childhood summertime frozen treat was created by accident in Kansas City, Missouri in the late 1950s by shop owner Omar Knedlik, whose soda fountain kept breaking down. In order to keep his sodas chilled, he put them in the freezer so when he served them they were frozen and slushy. Customers loved it, coming back to specially request 'those pops that were in a little bit longer'.
It was a moment of thinking-on-your-feet that led to the invention of the ice cream cone. It was at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair in Missouri when Syrian vendor Ernest Hamwi decided to roll up some zalabia, which are crisp, waffle-like pastries, to help out a neighbouring ice cream vendor who ran out of bowls. The idea caught on and ice cream cones soon became popular worldwide.
In 1930s Massachusetts, restaurant-owner Ruth Graves Wakefield is said to have been baking cookies in the kitchens of the Toll House Inn in Whitman. She discovered she'd run out of an ingredient, so substituted in chopped pieces of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate. The cookies were thought to be so delicious, Nestlé provided Ruth with a lifetime supply of chocolate in exchange for being able to print the recipe on its packet.
The story of yogurt’s invention isn’t for the weak-stomached, and has its origins in ancient civilisation. It's thought that nomadic tribes, possibly in Central Asia or the Middle East, discovered yogurt by storing milk in containers made from animal stomachs. These containers likely contained natural bacteria, which fermented the milk and turned it into yogurt.
Nachos were accidentally invented by a maître d’ named Ignacio 'Nacho' Anaya at the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Mexico, in 1943. Ten hungry US military wives crossed the border from the Fort Duncan Army base and, unable to locate the chef, Anaya improvised by covering a plate of tortilla chips with grated cheese. He melted it under a grill, topped it with sliced jalapeños and served it as a starter.
Though beer is referenced as early as the 6th century BC in Mesopotamia (now broadly Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey), no one’s exactly sure who invented it or how. Historians believe it’s possible it was created by accident during bread-making: someone baking bread outdoors was interrupted by a rainstorm, ran for cover and returned to the dough a day or two later to discover fermented liquid.
The Chinese invention of tofu is believed to have happened sometime during the Han dynasty (206-220 BC). Legend has it a cook was experimenting in the kitchen by flavouring a batch of cooked soybeans with nigari seaweed and ended up producing bean curd. However, other competing stories exist, such as a man who blended cooked soybeans as he wanted to prepare a soft dish to feed his elderly parents.
We have the Dutch to thank for brandy. The sweet liquor was invented as a cheap and practical way for 16th century tradesmen to transport wine. They evaporated liquid out of the alcohol so they could fit more in cargo and pay less tax. It was called brandewijn, which means burnt wine, and stored in wooden casks. When it was opened at the other end, it had a whole new aroma, colour and taste.
Amazingly, this wildly popular salty snack was first created as a form of revenge. At the Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1853, Cornelius Vanderbilt sent his French fries back to the kitchen for being too thick. In outrage, waiter George Crum prepared them again – making them as thin and hard as possible. Although this origin story is sometimes contested, the restaurant is where they gained popularity.
The Swizzels drumstick, the first chewy lolly to exist, was invented in the UK in 1957 by Trevor Matlow, son of one of the founders of British confectionary company Swizzels Matlow. He was experimenting with a new machine and happily discovered it was possible to create a lollipop with two flavours instead of one. Milk and raspberry were selected, but there have been other variants since such as Strawberry & Banana and Peaches & Cream.
Raisins were discovered as early as 2000 BC when an unsuspecting someone stumbled upon them dried up on the vine. Originally they were used for decoration, as trading items, prizes at sports events, and in medieval times, as the sweetener of choice.
Corn Flakes came about when Kellogg’s founders John and Will Kellogg were attempting to make granola. The duo accidentally flaked wheat berry, then experimented with corn and realised they were onto something. The recipe was perfected and Corn Flakes were eventually rolled out across the world.
This seriously spicy chicken is a treat to those who like hot food and a punishment to everyone else. Which is precisely the reason it was invented. In Nashville in the 1930s, Thornton Prince was caught cheating by his girlfriend. To get revenge she served him a breakfast of chicken dangerously doused in extremely hot pepper, but the plan backfired and he enjoyed it. Thornton went on to open a restaurant, Prince's Hot Chicken, dedicated to it.
Pink lemonade has been in American culture for more than a century, but have you ever wondered how it got its pink colour? A number of stories linking its invention to travelling circuses in the mid 1800s have circulated. The most realistic of the lot is that it was 'invented' by accidentally dropping red-coloured cinnamon candies in a traditional vat of the stuff.
The battle to claim who invented toasted ravioli, a popular appetiser in St. Louis, Missouri, endures between two local restaurants. Oldani’s claims that in the 1940s, a chef tipsy on red wine accidentally dropped ravioli into a fryer. While according to Angelo’s version of events, a waiter instructed an untrained cook to 'drop some raviolis' and they mistakenly thought he meant into boiling oil.
Tex-Mex favourite the chimichanga was reportedly invented by Monica Flin at her Tucson restaurant, El Charro Café, Arizona, in 1922. She accidentally dropped a burrito into the frying pan and when hot oil splashed up, she was about to swear, but stopping herself because her young nieces and nephews were around, yelled 'chimichanga!' instead.
The generally accepted story of how British dessert Eton mess came to be is that a strawberry, meringue and cream pudding was dropped at an Eton v Harrow cricket match in the late 19th century. Instead of wasting food, it was simply scooped up off the floor and served, smashed to bits, in individual bowls. An even funnier version of how the messy dessert was invented involves a 1930s picnic, a pudding and an overexcited labrador…
Whether it's drizzled over cheese on toast or used to marinate meat, Lea & Perrins is a staple in most households – but it was actually invented by accident. When Lord Marcus Sandys, a former governor of Bengal, returned to England he brought with him a recipe for a tangy sauce he encountered during his travels. He asked two chemists, John Lea and William Perrins, to replicate it, but the sauce didn't quite meet their expectations. It was set aside and forgotten about, but when they stumbled upon it again, they found that the sauce had matured and developed a rich, complex flavour.
Fun American dessert Dippin’ Dots, which features hundreds of miniature ice cream balls, was invented by microbiologist Curt Jones in Lexington, Kentucky in 1988. He realised anything added to liquid nitrogen instantly froze and applied the technique to ice cream. Dippin’ Dots was the resulting product.
Traditionally prepared tableside, this spectacular Parisian dish sees hot crêpes doused in a mixture of caramelised sugar, butter, orange juice and orange zest, splashed with orange liqueur, then set aflame. It was invented by mistake at Monte Carlo’s Cafe de Paris in 1895, when a young waiter was preparing a dish for the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of England, and accidentally set it on fire. Scared to begin again, he served the dish anyway.
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used in sugar-free food and drink and was invented in 1965 by scientist Dr James Schlatter entirely by accident. He was working on discovering an anti-ulcer drug and when he licked his finger to pick up a piece of paper, he found it tasted sweet. It's likely to be one of the only times accidentally ingesting a chemical in science has led to a positive outcome.
The idea for Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts was (literally) stumbled upon in 1899, when clumsy company representative Charlie Thompson tripped and sent rows of neatly separated sweets flying. On seeing the bright mix of shapes and colours jumbled together, a customer was inspired and immediately placed an order for a mixed delivery. Liquorice Allsorts hit the shelves and have been a success ever since.
The charming tale of the tarte Tatin starts with the Tatin sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline, who ran the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, a town in the Loire Valley of France, during the late 19th century. The story goes that one of the sisters was making an apple tart and, in a moment of distraction or forgetfulness, accidentally left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long. To salvage the dish, she placed pastry dough over the apples and baked it in the oven, intending to serve it upside-down. When the tart emerged from the oven, the sisters found that the apples had caramelised beautifully, forming a rich, golden topping.
The British Bakewell pudding is said to have been invented by accident in the Derbyshire town of Bakewell, England in 1860, the result of a misunderstanding between Mrs Greaves, who was the mistress of a local inn, and her cook. A nobleman visited and requested a strawberry tart, but an egg mixture was erroneously poured on top of the jam. Needless to say, the nobleman loved it.
Ever wonder why Portuguese ports have English and Scottish names, like Taylor’s, Graham’s and Cockburn? In the 17th and 18th century when Britain was at war with France, the English started sourcing full-bodied robust red wines from the upper Douro, known for its rocky hills and hot climate. To survive the long sea journey back to the UK, it’s said a pair of brothers fortified the wine with grape brandy to maintain its quality.
The first cheese puffs were actually invented at an animal feed factory, The Flakall Company of Beloit in Wisconsin, back in the 1930s. A curious employee named Edward Wilson decided to take home some of the puffed corn pellets that the company produced. Once seasoning was added, he thought they tasted pretty great. Who'd have known?
Liked this? Take a look at the retro ingredients we wish would make a comeback
Last updated by Natasha Lovell-Smith