Californians & Culinary History

[JFLinLA]

Ghirardelli chocolate was established in California.

And don't forget Guittard and Scharffenberger.

[mcdowell]

[pause for a moment to drool]

Aidell's Sausage

Neiman Ranch

[hollywood]

If I'm not too confused, I think California invented the topless bar and the topless restaurant.

[SWoodyWhite]

Bob's Big Boy, home of the Big Boy Hamburger! Where would the rest of the 'burger industry be without Big Boy's influence? (And, for that matter, didn't the Big Boy comix set the stage for the Happy Meal boxes?)

Add another one: International House of Pancakes. Maybe not cutting edge in the culinary world these days ( ), but the Talouca Lake site (which was one of if not the first) was my introduction to pancakes beyond the buttermilk style.

Edited July 9, 2003 by SWoodyWhite (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Thomas Keller.

Dodger Dogs. (although technically, the Dodgers are from Brooklyn)

[DVSDave]

Fast food chains.

Um...fortune cookies.

I may be wrong, but I think the Zone diet came from CA too.

[KNorthrup]

Bob's Big Boy, home of the Big Boy Hamburger!  Where would the rest of the 'burger industry be without Big Boy's influence?  (And, for that matter, didn't the Big Boy comix set the stage for the Happy Meal boxes?)

When I was in 4th-7th grade, that's where my father would take us for dinner pretty much every time we visited. All I remember about the food is the huge hot fudge sundaes for dessert. There was an Art Nouveau stained glass ceiling of women representing the four seasons on the ceiling.

Chili size

Cobb salad

Fortune cookies

CHiPs

I loved the chicken and yukon gold potato pizza at CPK but they only lasted about a year here.

Edited July 10, 2003 by KNorthrup (log)

[pixelchef]

Jason stole mine. :(

California gave us the French Laundry. In my eyes, the most important culinary contribution in the history of restaurant dining. I'd sell my soul for a salmon chop.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Just home from the holiday, I am late to this thread. As someone who has experienced California cuisine for 65+ years, I am both interested and amused. Californians who care about food eat fresh and excellent produce, seafood, poultry and meat. We (I) have done so for many more decades than the concept of California influence on national, much less international food. Well into our experience, Alice Waters brought home her love of French simplicity, and spawned an enormous number of student chefs who took her passion of French technique plus the obvious sensibility of eating seasonally and locally to every corner of the US. Sometime in the early 90s, Le Monde published an article that described her influence on the 3* chefs in France, but, unfortunately, I thought at the time that the suggestion was so obvious that I failed to save it. If California has a claim to fame, it is that is has brought cooking full circle: use what you grow; grow it with integrity; as in medicine, but frequently ignored by those who cook, "above all do no harm" to your product; and enjoy with good wine and good friends. Far from wanting our food "plain", we expect to have fine ingredients at our and local chefs' disposal and their preparation in ways that least detract from their essence.

[JFLinLA]

If California has a claim to fame, it is that is has brought cooking full circle: use what you grow; grow it with integrity; as in medicine, but frequently ignored by those who cook, "above all do no harm" to your product; and enjoy with good wine and good friends.  Far from wanting our food "plain", we expect to have fine ingredients at our and local chefs' disposal and their preparation in ways that least detract from their essence.

One of the best explanations I've ever heard.

[JFLinLA]

The French Dip Sandwich -- from Phillipe's where I think you can still get a 10 cent cup of coffee. My dad used to have lunch there when he worked in downtown LA in the 1960's.

How did I forget that. I can practically see it from my office window.

[ivan]

Well, between McDonald's and Alice Waters, I'd say California has pretty much layed down the law.

[Xanthippe]

Laura Chenel, who in 1978 began making chevre up in Sonoma county.

[russ parsons]

julia child (b, pasadena). helen evans brown (l, pasadena). goat cheese pizza. chino ranch. abalone. sushi. tuna tartare. santa maria bbq. fish tacos (point of entry, anyway). vella special select. niman ranch. most every peach, plum, nectarine, strawberry, artichoke, and tomato you'll eat this summer. all for better or worse, except sts. julia and helen.

[mcdowell]

Laura Chenel, who in 1978 began making chevre up in Sonoma county.

Well, if we're talking cheese... Cowgirl Creamary. Their triple creams are simply amazing.

Northern California seems a hot-bed of good artisnal cheeses.

[JFLinLA]

Did someone already mention Nancy Silverton?

[Beachfan]

Ghirardelli chocolate was established in California.

I guess if McDonald's counts, then so does Ghiradelli.

Joseph Schmidt chocolates, the first US chocolate to be of international quality.

[megc]

Ghirardelli chocolate was established in California.

I guess if McDonald's counts, then so does Ghiradelli.

Joseph Schmidt chocolates, the first US chocolate to be of international quality.

Not the greatest quality, but I think See's was a CA business? During my childhood in Michigan, I remember my parents pining for their chocolates.

Donsuemor Madeleines. You can find them in Starbucks and Trader Joe's all over the country. They started and are still operating out of little Emeryville, CA.

Straus Creamery in Marin, too.

[aliwaks]

LOVE cowgirl creamery but don't forget Vella dry jack and semi dry jack from monterey I believe, how about capricious cheese..are myer lemons part of CA cuisine? how about plucots?

I practically worship at the alter of the Marin County farmers market ( though the Santa Monica one isn't too bad either they have bacon avocados) never seen so many varieties of tomato in my life

[DVSDave]

Cioppino.

Chinese chicken salad, or should we just mention Wolfgang and everything he has done, good and bad?

[ivan]

Speaking of which, the Hass avocado -- La Habra Heights, California.

And it rhymes with "pass", not with "toss".

Edit: oops -- as megc already noted. Where's the "delete" button?

Edited July 11, 2003 by ivan (log)

[JFLinLA]

Not the greatest quality, but I think See's was a CA business?  During my childhood in Michigan, I remember my parents pining for their chocolates.

See's candy factories are in S. San Francisco and Los Angeles. There was a thread about See's not that long ago.

Edited July 11, 2003 by JFLinLA (log)

[jmcgrath]

Should we mention Mr. Puck?

Puck got his start in one of the Philly suburbs.

[hollywood]

Should we mention Mr. Puck?

Puck got his start in one of the Philly suburbs.

Actually, he got his start in Europe but he became well known at Ma Maison in LA. From Puck's website...

The Austrian-born Puck began his formal training at age 14, inspired by his mother, Maria, a hotel chef. Encouraged by a friend, Wolfgang - whose first name alone identifies him across America - left Europe in 1973 at the age of 24, having already learned his craft as a classically trained French chef in the master kitchens of three-star French restaurants, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, Maxim's in Paris and L'Oustau de Baumaniére in Provence. His first stop in the United States was as chef at the restaurant La Tour in Indianapolis. Puck made the move to Los Angeles two years later, in 1975, and became both chef and part owner of Ma Maison, which quickly became a magnet for the rich and famous, with Puck the starring attraction. Fame and acclaim quickly followed - a combination of a dynamic personality and a culinary brilliance that bridged tradition and invention.

Puck peeled a lot of potatoes in his teens.

Edited July 11, 2003 by hollywood (log)

[jmcgrath]

Should we mention Mr. Puck?

Puck got his start in one of the Philly suburbs.

Actually, he got his start in Europe but he became well known at Ma Maison in LA. From Puck's website...

Sorry for the bad information. Who could I have been thinking of? It was the same timeframe, mid '70s.