Mar 30 2009
Food of the St. Louis World’s Fair
Yesterday for lunch, I fixed toasted ravioli. Toasted ravioli was invented on The Hill in St. Louis. The Hill is where many Italian’s live. If you ever visit St. Louis and want Italian food, then you must visit The Hill. There are several Italian restaurants there and the food is wonderful!
Toasted ravioli is ravioli that is deep fried and then served with a marinara sauce or meat sauce. It’s a St. Louis tradition!
As I was preparing the ravioli, I started thinking about foods that got their start or their claim to fame at the St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair. The 1904 St. Louis Worlds’ Fair brought us ice cream served in a waffle cone. Ice tea was probably served before this time, but became popular during the fair. Dr. Pepper was invented in Waco, TX, but was served at the fair. Hot dogs were served on a bun just their size at the fair. Hamburgers, peanut butter, cotton candy and puffed wheat cereal were also served at the fair. The reason that so many foods became popular at the fair was because they were served to such a wide audience who visited the fair over the nine months that it was held.
Can you imagine attending this fair and being introduced to so many new foods? It must have been a very exciting time.
