Todays 5 facts about Chop Suey:

1. Chop suey is a Chinese American dish originating in the mid to late 19th century for Chinese immigrants in San Francisco
2. Many believe there are similar recipes in the Toisan region of China.
3. A chop suey fad swept the ‘big city’. In 1896, Americans began to visit New York Chinese restaurants in large numbers for the first time.
4.  Chop suey consists of small pieces of meat, chicken or shrimp stir-fried with celery, onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms and/or other vegetables, and served over rice, usually with soy sauce.
5. Most Chinese servers in the 1890’s were know for their yellow jackets.

Today’s Food History

• 1809 Oliver Wendell Holmes was born. American physician, poet and humorist. Author of ‘The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,’ ‘The Professor of the Breakfast Table,’ ‘The Poet of the Breakfast Table,’ and ‘Over the Teacups.’
• 1896 Supposedly, the Chinese-American dish, chop suey, was created in New York City by the Cantonese chef of Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-Chang.
• 1905 Jack Teagarden, jazz trombonist was born.
• 1915 Nathan Pritikin was born. A nutritionist who believed that exercise and a low fat, high unrefined carbohydrate diet helped reverse his own heart disease. He founded the Pritikin Longevity Center in 1976.
• 1953 Rick Downey of the rock group ‘Blue Oyster Cult’ was born.
• 2007 Alfred Peet died. He was the founder of Peet’s Coffee & Tea in Berkeley, California in 1966.  The founders of Starbucks were fans, and openly acknowledge his influence.