in 1911, the world's first "refrigerated banquet" was held to promote the refrigerator
2024-08-29
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nowadays, refrigerators have long become a must-have household appliance for ordinary families, and cold chain logistics also allow people to easily obtain fresh food from far away. however, using refrigerators to refrigerate food was not accepted by people from the beginning, and it went through a tortuous process. more than a hundred years ago, people held a "refrigeration banquet" to support refrigerators.
in october 1911, the sherman hotel in chicago, usa, held a novel "refrigerated banquet". the banquet was large in scale, with about 400 participants, including chicago municipal officials and important entrepreneurs and experts in the american food industry. the banquet menu impressed many people - in addition to the name of the dish, it also marked the refrigeration time of the ingredients and even stated which refrigerated warehouse the ingredients came from.
according to the rules of serving western dishes, chicken soup should be served first, with frozen chicken from chicago frozen warehouse, followed by pan-fried salmon from booth frozen warehouse. the main course is roast chicken, and people can learn from the menu that the roast chicken is "last december's turkey"... the dessert is american cheese with apple pie. the apples used are not marked with the picking time on the menu, but are marked as coming from booth frozen warehouse.
the banquet was served with dry martini cocktails before the meal, and black coffee and cigarettes after the meal. it can be said that the banquet was of high standard. why did such a banquet have to use frozen ingredients and specifically indicate it in the menu?
this is more of a publicity than a banquet, a unique event that uses celebrity effects to stand up for the safety of refrigerated food. according to reports, the us officials actually want to use this banquet to spread the idea that "you can eat meals made from refrigerated food, and it will not have a negative impact on your body."
historically, human refrigeration technology has been continuously developing and improving, from the miniaturization of refrigerators to the entry into households. in the early 20th century, americans were able to use refrigeration equipment to transport meat, vegetables and fruits from farms to urban tables through long-distance transportation, but people still have doubts about the safety of refrigerated food. on the one hand, many people feel that freshly slaughtered and cut meat is safer and more delicious to eat, and the meat of livestock that died weeks or even months ago is "disgusting and disturbing." on the other hand, gastrointestinal infections and diarrhea were one of the diseases that caused great headaches for americans at the time, and the fear of illness made many people stay away from refrigerated food.
in addition, the novel "the jungle" by american writer upton sinclair once exposed the dark side of early american slaughterhouses, which also increased consumers' doubts about refrigerated food. in the novel, large slaughterhouses controlled by capital parties made rotten and spoiled meat into sausages and sold them to consumers without regard for food safety. the book wrote, "here, everything about the pig, except the pig's squeal, is used to make money."
it is reported that the novel caused a social sensation as soon as it was published and also attracted the attention of then-president roosevelt. the united states introduced the pure food and drug act in 1906 to increase supervision of related industries.
legislation cannot completely eliminate people's distrust of refrigerated food, so there was a "refrigerated banquet" jointly promoted by capital and the government in 1911. the banquet was a certain success, and the "advertising effect" of celebrities partially washed away the bad reputation of refrigerated food. but there are still voices of opposition. after the banquet, some media published harsh columns to condemn the banquet. of course, everything has two sides. when there were no refrigerators, americans often pickled meat to extend the shelf life of meat. as refrigerators entered households, americans found that the incidence of stomach cancer caused by eating pickled meat in the past has decreased. ▲#deep good articles project#
