We know everything in the world named after some events. Like the wars named after the place where it happened, countries or cities named after their specific qualities, etc. Just like this, almost every food and drink have a name that is given for some reason. Some of them have surprising backgrounds like certain events. But there are also the ones that come from just a thought. And here we learn about details of the foods and drinks named after people.
From the Toga to Cocktail: Bellini
The cocktail called Bellini is known as the product of Giuseppe Cipriani, an Italian racing driver. He was also the founder and operator of Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy between 1950. The reason why he gave this name to the cocktail was its unique pink color. The color reminded the toga of a saint in a painting by the artist Giovanni Bellini. In its original recipe, it was made by adding raspberry or cherry juice to give the drink a rosy glow. However, after a while, it did not stick to it. Today, it is an official IBA drink, and it contains only Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco, and peach puree. For a non-alcoholic version, it is the best way to using sparkling fruit juice or mineral water instead of wine.
Named with All We Have: Caesar Salad
Although it is generally thought to have a connection with Julius Caesar, the creation of this salad is actually attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardini. He was an Italian immigrant operating restaurant both in Mexico and the United States. Cardini invented the salad at his restaurant at the Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, Mexico in 1924. Because of the Fourth of July rush and exhaustion of the kitchen’s supplies, Cardini made this salad with all he had in the kitchen. Cardini’s staff served the salad with the saying “by the chief” to make it more impressive. And it started to call as “Caesar Salad”.
After the name confusion of the salad, the content of the original recipe became a discussion for a while. His daughter Rosa Cardini gives the original recipe as lettuce, eggs, olive oil, croutons, and Worcestershire sauce. But anchovies are a key ingredient in modern recipes, which frequently is emulsified in bottled versions nowadays.
Taking Lord’s Name: Earl Grey Tea
Like in almost every food or drink story, Earl Grey Tea has some different stories behind its name. We are all familiar with the taste and the tea is named after the 2nd Earl Grey, one of the 19th century British prime ministers. It is said that this special sweet tea is a diplomatic gift to Earl Grey. In another legend, the tea was a gift from a Chinese mandarin after one of the Lord’s men rescued his son from drowning. It was first presented to Earl in 1803. We call this “legend” because Lord Grey had never been to China and the tea with bergamot was unknown in China.
Besides these kinds of stories, researchers explained the connection between Earl Grey and tea differently. Bergamot tea first appeared in England in 1824. And it is surprising that the reason for its creation was to change the taste of bad quality tea. Also, according to researchers, it is strange that Charles Grey recommended a tea consumed in this way and spread its awareness. But it is a general idea that Earl Grey Tea is one of the best tastes in terms of teas.
A Pizza Named After Queen: Margherita Pizza
In 1889, Queen Margherita, invited Raffaele Esposito, one of the most famous pizza masters of Naples at that time, to the palace and asked him to make a pizza for them. Esposito thought that the garlic sauce pizza, very famous at that time, was not suitable for the royal table. He made a pizza for the royal family in the colors of the Italian flag with three ingredients. These ingredients were consuming in the poor parts of Italy. Queen Margherita liked this pizza so much that she sent Esposito a letter of appreciation to her credit.
While Esposito became famous with this letter from the queen, he named this simple and delicious three-ingredient pizza after Queen Margherita, and after this date, the whole world recognized this Italian legend as pizza Margherita. As we understand the simple pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil became one of the first choices of both the queen and the whole world.
