Cookbook 'BraveTart' Explains Little-Known History Behind America's Favorite Recipes
How many Americans know that the sprinkles on their ice cream were first developed by 18th century pharmaceutical companies? Or that animal crackers were developed by mothers trying to get their kids to eat tomato soup?
Award-winning pastry chef Stella Parks‘ new cookbook “BraveTart” not only shares more than 100 classic American recipes, but also the history behind them. Parks (@BraveTart) joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to discuss her favorites and their stories.
Book Excerpt: ‘BraveTart’
By Stella Parks
Graham Crackers
From the late 1820s to his death in 1851, a Connecticut man named Sylvester Graham led a wild and crazy group of pro-fiber anti-sex crusaders known as the Grahamites. While lacking any sort of medical background, this Presbyterian minister made a career of dispensing advice on diet and nutrition. Sy Graham had quite the knack for baking, pioneering his own special brand of flour and writing a book on bread, but he would have despised everything about today’s graham crackers.
His 1837 Treatise on Bread and Bread Making categorically condemned commercial crackers, as well as any whole wheat flour that was finely milled.1 His lectures blamed
