Convenience foods

Question

This piglix contains articles or sub-piglix about Convenience foods

Answer 1

Potato chip

Potato chips

A potato chip (American English) or crisp (British English) is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, kettle-cooked, or popped until crunchy. Potato chips are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The basic chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, and additives.

More generally, crisps and chips include savory snack products made from not just potato, but also corn, tapioca, banana, or other cereals, root vegetables, and fruits.

Potato chips are a predominant part of the snack food market in Western countries. The global potato chip market generated total revenues of US$16.49 billion in 2005. This accounted for 35.5% of the total savory snacks market in that year ($46.1 billion).

The earliest known recipe for potato chips is in William Kitchiner's cookbook The Cook's Oracle, first published in 1817, which was a bestseller in England and the United States. The 1822 edition's version of recipe 104 is called "Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings" and reads "peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping".

Early recipes for potato chips in the United States are found in Mary Randolph's Virginia House-Wife (1824), and in N.K.M. Lee's Cook's Own Book (1832), both of which explicitly cite Kitchiner.

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Answer 2

Popcorn Chicken

Fried chicken

Fried chicken (also referred to as Southern fried chicken for the variant in the United States) is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan-fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior. What separates fried chicken from other fried forms of chicken is that generally the chicken is cut at the joints, and the bones and skin are left intact. Crisp well-seasoned skin, rendered of excess fat, is a hallmark of well made fried chicken.

The first dish known to have been deep fried was fritters, which were popular in the Middle Ages. However, it was the Scottish who were the first Europeans to deep fry their chicken in fat (though without seasoning). Meanwhile, a number of West African peoples had traditions of seasoned fried chicken (though battering and cooking the chicken in palm oil). Scottish frying techniques and West African seasoning techniques were combined by enslaved Africans and African-Americans in the American South. Prior to the Second World War, fried chicken was often very expensive and was only enjoyed on special occasions. In the late 1900s and early 2000s, however, fried chicken has been mass-produced and the price of the dish has gone down significantly.

When being cooked, fried chicken is often divided into smaller pieces. The chicken is then generally covered in a batter, often consisting of ingredients such as eggs or milk, and a thickener such as flour. This is used to create a crust on the exterior of the meat. In addition, seasoning is often added at this stage. Once the chicken is ready to be cooked, it is placed in a deep fryer, frying pan or pressure cooker (depending on the method used) and fried in lard or a type of oil.

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Answer 3

Pretzel

Pretzel

A pretzel ( listen ) (German: Brezel) ( listen ) is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly shaped into a twisted knot. Pretzels originated in Europe, possibly among monks in the Early Middle Ages. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive nonsymmetrical form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwined and then twisted back into itself in a certain way ("a pretzel loop"). Pretzels now come in different shapes. Salt is the most common seasoning for pretzels, complementing the washing soda or lye treatment that gives pretzels their traditional "skin" and flavor through the Maillard reaction; other seasonings include sugars, chocolate, glazes, seeds, and/or nuts.

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Answer 4

Snack

A snack is a portion of food, smaller than a regular meal, generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.

Traditionally, snacks are prepared from ingredients commonly available in the home. Often cold cuts, fruit, leftovers, nuts, sandwiches, and the like are used as snacks. The Dagwood sandwich was originally the humorous result of a cartoon character's desire for large snacks. With the spread of convenience stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business. Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick, and satisfying. Processed snack foods, as one form of convenience food, are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially-designed flavors (such as flavored potato chips).

Beverages, such as coffee, are not generally considered snacks though they may be consumed along with or in lieu of snack foods.

A snack eaten shortly before going to bed or during the night may be called a (mid)night snack.

In the United States, the first snack food was the peanut. Peanuts first arrived from South America via slave ships, and became incorporated into African-inspired cooking on southern plantations. After the Civil War, the taste for peanuts spread north, where they were incorporated into the culture of baseball games and vaudeville theaters.

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Answer 5

Soft drink

A soft drink (see terminology for other names) is a drink that typically contains carbonated water, a sweetener, and a natural or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, sugar substitutes (in the case of diet drinks), or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives, and other ingredients.

Soft drinks are called "soft" in contrast to "hard drinks" (alcoholic beverages). Small amounts of alcohol may be present in a soft drink, but the alcohol content must be less than 0.5% of the total volume if the drink is to be considered non-alcoholic.Fruit punch, tea, and other such non-alcoholic beverages are technically soft drinks by this definition but are not generally referred to as such.

Soft drinks may be served chilled, over ice cubes or at room temperature. In rare cases, some soft drinks, such as Dr Pepper, can be served warm. Soft drinks are available in many formats, including cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles (the latter in a variety of sizes ranging from small bottles to large 2-liter containers). Soft drinks are also widely available at fast food restaurants, movie theaters, convenience stores, casual dining restaurants, and bars from soda fountain machines. Soda fountain drinks are typically served in paper or plastic disposable cups in the first three venues. In casual dining restaurants and bars, soft drinks are often served in glasses. Soft drinks may be drunk with straws or sipped directly from the cups.

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Answer 6

Take and bake pizzeria

A take and bake pizzeria, sometimes just known as a take and bake (or alternatively, take-n-bake), is a pizzeria which sells uncooked pizzas to customers, who then cook the pizzas at home in their own ovens.

Take-and-bake pizzas are typically made to order out of fresh ingredients (though the pizzeria may also keep a number of commonly ordered or special sale price pizzas on hand for convenience). Often because the pizzas are made with fresh and unbaked ingredients and not heated in-store, the pizzas can be paid for in some states with food assistance EBT cards.

According to Nation's Restaurant News, take-and-bake pizzerias typically have lower costs because they require less restaurant space and equipment. As a result, they are often able to undercut the national pizza giants.

Many take-and-bake pizzerias either operate as standalone entities, or as part of delicatessens. Such establishments often offer other menu items, such as cookie dough, soft drinks, salads, breadsticks, or dessert items, in addition to pizza. Some supermarkets also offer this feature, including Sobeys and Safeway (where a delicatessen is attached to a pizza section). In addition, some traditional dine-in pizzerias, such as Pizzeria Uno, also provide take-and-bake pizzas at some locations.

The leading specialty chains offering take and bake pizza in America are Papa Murphy's, Figaro's, and Nick-N-Willy's. Several grocery and retail chains, such as Kroger and Wal-Mart, also offer take and bake pizza.

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Answer 7

Toaster Strudel

Toaster Strudel

Toaster Strudel is a toaster pastry brand which was originally notable for being stored frozen, due to innovations in 1980s food manufacturing processes. The pastries are a convenience food, prepared simply and quickly by heating them in a toaster and then spreading the included icing packet on top.

Toaster Strudel is marketed under the Pillsbury brand, formerly of the Pillsbury Company. The product has found considerable success since being deployed in 1985 as competition with Kellogg's Pop-Tarts brand of non-frozen toaster pastries. In 1994, the company launched the advertising slogan "Something better just popped up". As of August 2013^[update], the company increased the foreign branding, launching a brand ambassador character named Hans Strudel, and the new slogan of "Get Zem Göing".

Since the brand's introduction, various flavors of Toaster Strudel have come and gone, and a current list is on the manufacturer's website. Flavors have included:

A similar Pillsbury product, Toaster Scrambles, is a savory toaster pastry with meat and cheese breakfast ingredients. In 2013 two varieties were available:

In the 2004 teen movie Mean Girls, it was fictitiously claimed that Gretchen Wieners's family fortune was due to her father's of the Toaster Strudel.

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Answer 8

Tortilla chip

Tortilla chip

A tortilla chip (/tɔːrˈtiː.ə tʃɪp/, Spanish: [torˈtiʎa tʃip]) is a snack food made from corn tortillas, which are cut into wedges and then fried—or baked (alternatively they may be discs pressed out of corn masa then fried or baked). Corn tortillas are made of corn, vegetable oil, salt and water. Although first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, tortilla chips were always considered to be a Mexican food, known as totopos and tostadas. Though usually made of yellow corn, they can also be made of white, blue, or red corn. Some manufacturers include many other ingredients including wheat, sugar, and monosodium glutamate.

The triangle shaped tortilla chip was popularized by Rebecca Webb Carranza as a way to make use of misshapen tortillas rejected from the automated tortilla manufacturing machine that she and her husband used at their Mexican delicatessen and tortilla factory in southwest Los Angeles. Carranza found that the discarded tortillas, cut into triangles and fried, were a popular snack, and she sold them for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. In 1994, Carranza received the Golden Tortilla award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry.

Tortilla chips are the quintessential and often complimentary appetizer in Tex-Mex and Mexican restaurants in the U.S. and elsewhere. Their popularity outside of California saw a steady rise in the late 1970s when they began to compete with corn chips, the dipping chip of choice during the first three quarters of the 20th century. They are typically served with a dip, such as salsa, chile con queso, or guacamole. When not served with a dip, the chips are often seasoned with herbs and spices. Although they are now available worldwide, the United States is one of the main markets for tortilla chips. Commercial brand names for tortilla chips include Phileas Fogg snacks, Tostitos, Doritos, and Don Tacos (in Japan).

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Answer 9

TV dinner

A TV dinner (also called prepackaged meal, ready-made meal,ready meal, frozen dinner, frozen meal, microwave meal) is a pre-packaged frozen or chilled meal that usually comes as an individual portion. It requires very little preparation and contains all the elements for a single-serving meal.

A TV dinner in the United States usually consists of a cut of meat, usually beef or chicken; a vegetable, such as peas, carrots, corn, or potatoes; and sometimes a dessert, such as a brownie or apple cobbler. The entrée could also be pasta or a common type of fish, such as Atlantic cod. Rice is a common side item. In Europe, the meals can be more diverse, with items such as Indian or Chinese meals being common in the UK.

The term TV dinner is a genericized trademark originally used for a brand of packaged meal developed in 1953 by C.A. Swanson & Sons (the name in full was TV Brand Frozen Dinner). The original TV Dinner came in an aluminum tray and was heated in an oven. In the United States the term is synonymous with any prepackaged dinner purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home.

Most frozen food trays are now made of microwaveable material, usually plastic.

Several smaller companies had conceived of frozen dinners earlier (see Invention section below), but the first to achieve success was Swanson. The first Swanson-brand TV Dinner was produced in the United States and consisted of a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, cornbread dressing, frozen peas and sweet potatoes packaged in a tray like those used at the time for airline food service. Each item was placed in its own compartment. The trays proved to be useful: the entire dinner could be removed from the outer packaging as a unit; the aluminum tray could be heated directly in the oven without any extra dishes; and one could eat the meal directly from the same tray. The product was cooked for 25 minutes at 425 °F (218 °C) and fit nicely on a TV tray table. The original TV Dinner sold for 98 cents, and had a production estimate of 5,000 dinners for the first year.

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Answer 10

Wonut

A wonut, doffle, wownut, waffle-donut or waffle nut is a hybrid food made from a combination of the cooking techniques and inputs of a waffle and a doughnut. A mixture of the waffle batter and the doughnut dough are first poured into a waffle iron, then deep fried and finally decorated, with toppings similar to doughnuts. The wonut became popular in the spring of 2014 at the Waffles Cafe in the Lake View community area of Chicago, and its popularity quickly spread via bloggers and social media. It can now be found throughout the United States and beyond.

The wonut is made from a combination of the ingredients of a waffle and a doughnut. The first stage of preparation is to pour the batter, which is slightly thicker than regular waffle batter, into a waffle iron. Then, the waffle is deep-fried until it is crisp. The final product can be glazed, frosted, and/or dunked in various toppings.

Following on the trend of the cronut, Waffles Cafe (3611 North Broadway, Chicago) included the wonut on its menu for a few months before it became prominent. In April 2014, bloggers and Instagrammers popularized the item around the country. The wonut was added to the menu to commemorate the opening of Waffles Cafe's second location in Streeterville and was first noticed by the Thrillist website.

Among the early supporters of the food item were the Daily Mail and Jezebel, which DNAinfo.com author Serena Dai credits with causing the wonut to go viral. The creation, which was promptly featured on The Chew, is credited to Waffles Cafe owner Alex Hernandez, a product of Le Cordon Bleu and former manager of Japonais in New York. By May 2014, DK's Donuts made a product that they called wownuts, available to the Los Angeles area. The original Waffles Cafe location, which had been opened in 2012, was closed at the beginning of 2016 for renovation and was later that year shut down after losing its business license when it failed to pay a $15,000 debt.

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