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Richmond County Daily Journal
Culinary inventions you didn’t know were invented by African-Americans
By Cheri Bennett, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension @ Your Service,
2024-02-07
Do you love hot biscuits, perfectly shaped, with butter? What about a delicious round scoop of your favorite ice cream? As we celebrate African American History Month, let’s look at some of the many culinary contributions that African American innovators have made to our nation and our world that we enjoy.
In the world of agriculture, George Washington Carver encouraged farmers to plant sweet potatoes and peanuts as alternative cash crops to cotton. These plants also put nourishment back into the soil. Along the way, he changed the way we ate these products. He made everything from foods and medicines to cosmetics, dyes, paints, and stains from peanuts. He wrote a book titled, ‘How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption’.
Peanuts back then and now, are not only great in recipes, they are a healthy food that provides vitamins E and the B group, also iron, zinc, potassium, and magnesium. George Washington Carver created more than 100 products from sweet potatoes that were originally made from other products, such as sugar, and yeast. Today, innovators share the spirit of George Washington Carver in developing common foods and ingredients from uncommon plants and vegetables that can be enjoyed by those that have celiac disease and food allergies, such as almond flour and soy milk, to name a few.
Alfred L. Cralle observed workers struggling to serve the perfect round ball of ice cream when he held the position of porter at a drugstore and hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The staff were using two spoons to scoop and shape the ball of ice cream. They were making a mess in the process. This sparked Alfred Cralle to invent a handheld tool named the ‘ice cream mold and disher’ (U.S. Patent 576,395) in February 1897. This tool allowed servers to scoop the perfect ball of ice cream with a single hand and dispense it without it sticking to the tool. This is the same mechanism used today with the ice cream scoop. This tool is very beneficial today because not only is ice cream served at home and in restaurants, it is also a number one food in hospitals and other places of healing because it can be made lactose free and sugar free.
Who remembers the hand held rotary egg beaters? We can thank Willis Johnson for this contribution. His improved two chamber mechanical eggbeater was the forerunner to the electric mixers that we enjoy today. Willis Johnson’s invention allowed homemakers and restaurant cooks to beat eggs in one chamber and mix batter and other ingredients in the second. The ability to mix ingredients not only makes for a smoother batter but in many cases it can improve nutritional value.
Did you know that modern juicers are based on the design invented by Madeline M. Turner? In her design, Turner’s Fruit-Press, (U.S. Patent 1,180, 959), the fruit was pushed through an opening and pulled into a cog where it would then be cut in half. The halves were then pressed between flat plates where the juice was collected in cups. Just imagine, without her innovation back then, the juicing industry would not be as profitable today! Juicing can play a huge role in maintaining a balanced diet by allowing people to enjoy the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables at home or on the go.
Throughout America in the 1800’s everyone ate pastries of some sort. The problem was that the batches were not all consistent in shape, texture, and taste. Recognizing this culinary issue, Alexander P. Ashbourne invented a spring-loaded tool that cut the dough into precise shapes
(U.S Patent 170,460). This helped the biscuits bake uniformly. Today, companies such as Pillsbury manufactures canned biscuits that have already been cut into perfect circles using technology based on Alexander Ashbourne’s invention. This technology is also the basis for the design of biscuit cutters used in restaurants today such as Bojangle’s and Hardee’s.
The innovations of African Americans have greatly influenced the culture of American cuisine. Their contributions in the area of food science and innovation are not only a part of the fabric of America but the world.
To learn more about food and nutrition contact Cheri Bennett at NC Cooperative Extension Richmond County Center, located at 123 Caroline Street, Rockingham, or call 910-997-8255. The Richmond County Cooperative Extension Office helps provide research-based education and technology to the producers and citizens of this great county. Visit our website at richmond.ces.ncsu.edu.
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