Title: Who Put the Devil in Deviled Eggs?

Author: Ann Treistman

Publisher: Skyhorse 2011

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 173

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction;

Who pitted the first cherries and nestled them into pie crust? Was a meatloaf sandwich the result of a late-night refrigerator run? And does anyone really crave green bean casserole, complete with fried onions on top? In this time of hyper-awareness of locality—when every roast chicken needs a pedigree of a free-range home and antibiotic-free past—it’s time to celebrate the very basics of American cooking. The joy of Velveeta and pleasures of Jell-O. In this fun collection, author Ann Treistman takes readers on a journey through a 1950s kitchen, sometimes with surprising results. For example, deviled eggs were first prepared in Ancient Rome, in a slightly different form and without the familiar moniker. The practice of removing the yolks from hard-boiled eggs, mixing it with spices and refilling the shells was fairly common by the 1600s. Why the devil? Well, it’s hot in hell, and by the 18th century, it was all the rage to devil any food with a good dose of spice. Adding mustard or a signature sprinkle of hot paprika turned these eggs into devils.

A slim, yet very enjoyable volume. Some of the entries I already knew about like the chapter on pizza and the one about apple pie. But there were many that contained new-to-me information. J had me read him the one about the reuben as we lived in Omaha where one of the theories puts its inception. A nice afternoon read on this lazy Saturday.