Foodie Facts

Consider this The Food Lover’s Companion lite—short and sweet trivia about retro American food.

Who pitted the first cherries and nestled them into pie crust? Was a meatloaf sandwich the result of a late-night refrigerator run? And does anyone really crave green bean casserole, complete with fried onions on top?

In this time of hyperawareness of locality—when every roast chicken needs a pedigree of ...