Hector Boiardi ran a popular Italian restaurant in Cleveland in the 1920s, and his recipes were so popular that people convinced him to mass-market them. Chef Boyardee | Real Or Fake: 21 Famous Brand Namesakes Revealed After struggling with cash flow, compounded by internal family struggles over the ownership and direction of the company in managing rapid internal growth, he sold his brand to American Home Foods, later International Home Foods. Chef Boyardee. That's thanks to Chef Boyardee adding high fructose corn syrup to their sauce. Meet The Real Chef Behind The Chef Boyardee Brand Chef Boiardi was awarded a Gold Star Order of Excellence from the United States War Department for supplying millions of rations for American and Allied troops during WWII. I didnt say much and handed the phone back to my friends dad who was shocked I wasnt impressed. Lippert believed the ad influenced other famous commercials such as Prince Spaghetti (known for "Anthony! keep up the great work! He soon found his way into the kitchen of New York's famous Plaza Hotel, with help from older brother Paul, who worked there as a matre d'. I was at a friends house and his father was an actual good friend of the Chef. Aunt Jemima was later brought to life when the businesss new owner hired Nancy Green, a former slave, to portray the character in ads and at events. He said I run a restaurant in Cleveland and am catering parties by putting my spaghetti in a bucket. His brother Paul worked there as maitre dhotel. The Milton factory started operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 1942, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. | Well, a lot, actually. Joined by Paul and his other brother Mario from Italy, Hector launched the Chef Boiardi Food Company in 1928. Your email address will not be published. [12] He had five grandchildren. Take a Break from Tuna with the Best Canned Salmon, All of the Tapatio Products You May Not Have Known Exist, The 5 Best Bread and Butter Pickles Are Sweet, Sour, and Sensational, Sporkeds Guide to the Best Nachos Fixins, 3 Best Frozen Chicken Patties for DIY Fast Food. With the stock market crashing a year after the company's launch, the Great Depression was a boon for Chef Boyardee and its inexpensive, prepackaged meals, which helped to bring Italian food to the masses. As a Change.org petition advocating for a Boiardi statue in Cleveland notes, the company also churned out cans to feed America's troops during World War II, earning Boiardi a gold star from the U.S. government. Your Privacy Rights Hector Boiardi, born in 1897, was born in Italy, where he began working at a hotel in his hometown when he was 11 (child labor meant something a little different in the early 1900s.) Anastasia Arellano. In less-racist mascot falsification, Betty Crocker was the product of a Saturday Evening Post contest, and KFC's Colonel Harlan Sanders never actually earned the military rank that many misattribute to him. Based on that strength, Consolidated Foods adopted the name Sara Lee for the whole corporation. Chef Boyardee Was A Real Person - Smithsonian Magazine They later sold the company, and Dean stayed involved in management and as a spokesperson until management phased him out. Did you know this already? By the late 1930s, Hector was headed east to set up his kitchen in Milton, Pennsylvania . So he changed his last name's spelling to make it easier to pronounce, slapped it on a can, and boom, Chef Boyardee was born. Which of these company figureheads was a real person? - Getvoice.org He died on June 21, 1985, and today the company is owned by ConAgra, the conglomerate behind faves like Slims Jim, Reddi-wip, Vlasic pickles, PAM, Orville Redenbachers popcorn, and, like, a bajillion and three more food brands. When it comes to food brands and their human "mascots," you really can't believe everything you see. Today I found out Chef Boyardee was a real person. As for the products that Hector Boiardi left as his legacy, Anna Boiardi admits that they may not be the same as when her great-uncle made them but it is an alternative for those who just don't have the time to cook. As a kid, I had so many questions. (Boiardi Family) That was the town where its tomatoes were grown, and the company even grew mushrooms insidethe factory. Unlike the friendly but fictional food faces of Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, Chef Boyardee that jovial, mustachioed Italian chef is real. It then expanded when the production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, and there, the Chef Boyardee empire was born. The most interesting brand names based on fictitious people, by far, are those that were devised with the express purpose of playing up the concept of "idealized domesticity," which was a big marketing trend around the turn of the 20th century. After working in New York's Plaza Hotel, he opened his own restaurant. Could spaghetti be canned? The future superintendent responded with, You can can almost anything, but I dont know what it would taste like. Cookie Policy So impressed with Boiardi's cooking, Wilson chose him to supervise the homecoming meal of 2,000 returning World War I soldiers in late 1918. Today, Chef Boyardee sells a variety of classic pasta dishes in both cans and those little microwavable cupsSpaghetti & Meatballs, Beefaroni, Lasagna, and, of course, both meat and cheese ravioli. Chef Boyardee - Wikipedia Cooking up recipes from his hometown, he so impressed customers that he was hired away to be the head chef at Barbetta on 46th Street (where it is still located to this day). His name? He later changed the name of the business to Kitchens of Sara Lee, and when it was later acquired by the Consolidated Foods Corporation, it became one of the companys leading brands. Does Absinthe Actually Make You Hallucinate? Later, in 2000, ConAgra bought IHF, and they currently own the Chef Boyardee name. [5], The U.S. military commissioned the company during World War II for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24 hours a day. She loves spicy snacks, Oreos, baking bread, teeny tiny avocados, and trying new foods whenever she can. When he began selling jars and cans of his tomato sauce, he chose to do so under a name that Americans could pronounce more easily: "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" (later changed to Chef Boyardee). Known affectionately as 'Chef Boyardee,' he founded his food franchise of products with his wife, Helen. With the help of his brothers, Ettore launched what was initially known as the Chef Boiardi Food Company in 1928, whose first product was those prepackaged spaghetti dinners. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Milton, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1928. From there, he worked at a variety of high end restaurants in New York as a cook, eventually working his way up to Chef. But his goal was always to sail across the Atlantic and join his brother Paul in America. From the Chef Boyardee website: . After immigrating to America at the age of 16, he got a job at New Yorks Plaza Hotel, And during those years, Boiardi also directed the catering for Woodrow Wilsons. By the time the war ended, the company employed five thousand people and production far exceeded what they were doing in the 1930s. The plaintiff who filed the class-action lawsuit was demanding more than $5 million in damages. Ettore Boiardi was an Italian immigrant who worked as a chef in New York and West Virginia hotels (where he supposedly catered Woodrow Wilsons second wedding) before opening his own restaurant in Cleveland. Aunt Jemima-esque mammy characters have been used as racial caricatures for ages. Again, what a dude! Ettore (Hector) Boiardi came from Piacenza, Italy to New York with his brothers, where he became the head chef of the famous Plaza Hotel at the age of 17. The Most Iconic Food Mascots Of All Time - The Daily Meal Though no longer the owner, he remained the face of the company, appearing in a variety of print and TV ads for the brand until the late 70s, touting an ever-expanding array of canned Italian eats. With all that in mind, it's natural to be skeptical of the origins and credentials of any food company mascot. So he changed his last name's spelling to make it easier to pronounce, slapped it on a can, and boom, Chef Boyardee was born. Is Chef Boyardee Actually Three People? | Snopes.com Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. That would be one Ettore "Hector" Boiardi, a very real Italian-American chef. ", By 1936, the company had outgrown the Cleveland plant and moved to a large swath of land in Milton, Pennsylvania where they could grow their own tomatoes. So how did Ettore Boiardi become Chef Boyardee? Everyone is proud of his family name but sacrifices were necessary for progress, Boiardi said, according to History.com. Privacy Statement Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about Chef Boyardee - a real person who helped greatly during WWII.Gena is a genealogist and author of the book "From the Family Kitchen." There are a number of food spokespeople that are familiar to most Americans. Believe it or not, Chef Boyardee was a real live chef, and Chef Boyardee's history is pretty amazing. The brand's signature tomato sauce has always been sweet and sort of thin, . [13], In June 2000, ConAgra Foods acquired International Home Foods. Betty. At the age of 11, he was working as an apprentice chef at local restaurant "La Croce Bianca", although his duties were confined to non-cooking odd jobs such as potato peeling and dealing with the trash. Thank You! I wish they would bring back the older version of macaroni and cheese with the long noodles and white cheese sauce. They even hired a former slave, Nancy Green, to be the first spokesperson. Who Was Chef Boyardee? A Real, Italian-American Icon - Allrecipes After the war ended, Boiardi had to choose between selling the company or laying off everyone he had hired. He was still a teenager. Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli is made with fresh pasta, hearty, Italian-flavored tomato sauce, and real beef, giving it the classic flavor everyone loves. The kit included uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, and a container of pre-grated cheese. So, who was Chef Boyardee? At the age of 24, he moved to Cleveland and opened a restaurant with his wife. Lets try!. And he's just one of the 33 grocery store brands named after real people. The Welsh sailor made his name defending British interests and raiding Spanish ships and towns throughout the Caribbean. DUNCAN HINES CAKE MIXES. When stirring sauce, you should always stir with the spoons rounded side down, rather than stir sideways like pretty much everyone does. This will help you not spill any sauce as well as create little whirlpools in the sauce as the curve side down glides through the sauce; this provides optimal mixing. Even though its now a household name, the people of still have very sentimental memories of Chef Boyardee. This not only helped cut down on the cost of ingredients, but also helped insure that the ingredients were top quality and provided a steady supply. His face is familiar to anyone who has ever eaten canned ravioli, but you might not know his story. A History of Chef Boyardee - Foodimentary [17], In 2005, Chef Boyardee was shown in MasterCard's "Icons" commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX, which depicts advertising mascots having dinner together. He even got a Gold Star for it. Others, like Mr. Coffee, well, we don't think they were trying to fool anyone with that one. He sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million, and remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978. Although the product sold well, the company name was a sticking point. At the time of his death in 1985, at the age of 87 years old, the Chef Boyardee line of food products was grossing over half a billion dollars per year. Born 119 years ago this month (October 22nd, 1897) in the northern Italian city of Piacenza (part of Italy's famous "food valley"), legend has it that cooking was so ingrained in Boiardi that he used a wire whisk as a rattle. As a result of the request, the name was changed to "Beef-a-reeno". Another 6 years later and he came up with the now famous brand name Chef Boyardee, changing the spelling of his name to be phonetically correct, as he was tired of explaining to people how to pronounce his name and thought if he was going to be selling nationally, he should make it easy for Americans to pronounce. I love the part about the guy keeping his familys wealth secret until he was sure. What is Chef Boyardee? Italy's postwar government went one step further, not only awarding him a cross of honor, but also bestowing the title "king of the spaghetti dinner." Real. Sara Lee didnt follow her father into the baking business, but instead has worked to encourage and support women working in science. When inventor Chris L. Rutt wanted to sell his pancake flour, he went for the stereotypical "mammy" archetype and took the name "Aunt Jemima" from a popular minstrel song. Is Pizza Getting Too Gourmet for Its Own Good? Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. Debbi Fields and her then-husband Randall opened their first bakery in 1977.