Food naming is a poor historical record. Restaurants name dishes for regulars, stories improve with retelling, and the version that survives is usually the most quotable rather than the most accurate. Here are twelve, with the evidence noted.
1. The Sandwich
Named for an eighteenth-century English aristocrat, with the popular account holding that he asked for meat between bread so he could keep working – or gambling – without stopping for a meal.
The gambling version is the memorable one and the working version may be closer to the truth. The sandwich is the dish whose name is certain and whose origin story has two competing versions.
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2. Peach Melba
Created by a celebrated French chef for an Australian opera singer, combining poached peaches, ice cream and raspberry, and reportedly served in an ice swan.
The same chef named a thin toast after her as well. Peach Melba is the dish named for a singer by a chef who made a habit of it.
3. Beef Stroganoff
Associated with a Russian noble family, with the dish appearing in nineteenth-century Russian cookbooks and the specific member of the family responsible not firmly established.
Its journey abroad changed it substantially from the original. Stroganoff is the dish whose family name is certain and whose individual is not.
4. Carpaccio
Named by a Venetian restaurateur after a Renaissance painter, because the red of the raw beef and the white of the sauce recalled the painter’s colours.
It was reportedly created for a customer advised to avoid cooked meat. Carpaccio is the dish named after an artist for the colour rather than the subject.
5. Pavlova
Named for a Russian ballerina who toured Australia and New Zealand, with both countries claiming to have created it and the dispute truly unresolved.
Food historians have examined early recipe books on both sides without settling it. Pavlova is the dish two countries have been arguing about for a century.
6. Chateaubriand
Named for a French writer and diplomat, referring to a cut of beef and the preparation associated with it, reportedly devised by his personal chef.
The cooking method described in early accounts is not the one used now. Chateaubriand is the dish named for a writer and since changed beyond recognition.
7. Bechamel
Attributed to a French financier and steward at the royal court, though the sauce likely existed before him and was named in his honour rather than by him.
Naming a sauce after a courtier was a form of flattery. Bechamel is the sauce whose namesake probably did not invent it.
8. Garibaldi Biscuits
Named after an Italian general during a period of enormous public enthusiasm for him in Britain, applied to a biscuit containing currants.
The connection to the man is purely commemorative. The Garibaldi is the biscuit named after a general who had nothing to do with baking.
9. Oysters Rockefeller
Named for a famously wealthy American family, on the basis that the sauce was so rich the name seemed appropriate.
The original recipe has never been published and remains a house secret. Oysters Rockefeller is the dish named for wealth rather than for anyone who ate it.
10. Bellini
Named by a Venetian bartender after a Renaissance painter, because the colour of the drink recalled a shade in one of his works.
The same bar produced another dish on this list, which suggests a house habit. The Bellini is the drink named after a painter by the same establishment that named a dish after another one.
11. Margherita Pizza
Traditionally said to have been created for an Italian queen, with the colours representing the national flag, in a story that food historians treat with considerable caution.
The documentary evidence is thin and the tale may be later promotion. The margherita is the dish with the most charming origin story and the least supporting evidence.
12. Nachos
Named for the restaurant manager who improvised them for a group of customers arriving after the kitchen had closed, using tortilla, cheese and jalapeno because that was what was to hand.
His nickname gave the dish its name, and the improvisation is unusually well attested for a food origin story. Nachos are the dish named after a man who was simply trying to feed people at an inconvenient hour.
Names That Outlived the Reason
The pattern is consistent: dishes get named for patrons, celebrities and financiers, the stories are polished in the retelling, and the name survives long after anyone remembers who the person was.
The honest position on nearly all of these is that the name is documented and the story is not. Restaurant origin tales are marketing as much as history, they improve with each retelling, and the versions that survive are the ones worth repeating rather than the ones that happened.
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