Accidental Food Discoveries

Can you imagine a world without cool, creamy ice-cream cones?An ice-cream vendor named Charles Menches was doing such booming business that he ran out of bowls to put the ice cream in. The vendor next to Menches was a young Syrian immigrant named Ernest Hamwi.And who could get by without salty, addictive, crispy potato chip Yet all these treats are fairly recent inventions that may never have come into existence if it weren't for lucky accidents.Hamwi was selling a Syrian treat called zalabia, a crisp, wafer-like pastry.Hamwi rolled some of his warm pastry into a cone so that Menches could put ice cream inside.Isn't it depressing to imagine life without chewy, delicious, chocolate chip cookies?One winter day in 1905, young Epperson was making soda pop by mixing powdered soda and water.Epperson's children referred to this treat made by their pop as a popsicle.Hamwi came up with a solution to Menches' quandary.Some prefer the indulgence of delicious freshly baked goods, like chocolate chip cookies.However, after taking the cookies out of the oven, Wakefield discovered that the chocolate hadn't melted.Have you ever enjoyed the cool refreshment of a popsicle on a hot summer day?In the morning, Epperson discovered that the fruit-flavored liquid had frozen to the stick.These people should be grateful for an accidental discovery made by an American housewife in 1930.