Our resident food expert dives into the comparatively recent birth of green attic casserole .
Unlike many Thanksgiving stalwart , the gullible bean casserole ( GBC ) ca n’t trace its base to culinary custom . It was develop in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly , an economic expert for the Campbell Soup Company . That ’s right — like so many American classics , the casserole was evolve as a cut-rate sale pecker .
Around the thirties , big food companies like Campbell ’s learned that to deal newly developed and processed foods , it was best to pump out recipes that sport them . The GBC was a “ jiffy ” casserole , requiring few ingredients and picayune time .
Reilly ’s original formula contain only six ingredients : pick of mushroom soup , Milk River , soy sauce ( exotic for the time ) , smuggled pepper , green beans ( cooked or canned ) , and canned French - fry onions .
Its economy and flavor — largely thanks to gobs of fatness and salt — earned the GBC near instant popularity . But a Thanksgiving characteristic story bring out by the Associated Press propelled it to immortality .
Campbell ’s cream of mushroom soup , which was invented in 1934 , had become a pantry raw material by ’ 55 . Meanwhile , sack French - fried onions were prepare one class originally , in 1933 , but languished until Reilly ’s culinary discovery .
The forged news show : A mere half cup of canned cream of mushroom cloud soup can contain 6 g of adipose tissue and a whopping 870 magnesium of Na . transcribed light-green beans are wretched and mushy , while canned French - fry onion are downright creepy . The good intelligence : Fresh green edible bean casserole is a nifty dish that can be whipped up from lettuce with just a footling more fuss .
require more good tidings ? you may essay out more of my recipes by heading tomentalfloss.com/alton .
This story originally appeared in mental_floss magazine publisher . Now godownload our Modern iPad app!Or get afree issueofmental_flossmagazine via ring armor .
