Los Angeles

The LA You May Not Know: LA Food Firsts

July 25th is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day, an opportunity to celebrate the creation of one of life's great pleasures. And since this variety of ice cream sundae was created right here in Hollywood, we're dedicating this month's story to "LA Food Firsts." In fact, our video story runs through an entire meal of delectable items created here in the LA area.

Of course one LA food icon whose origins are still debated over one hundred years since its inception, is the French Dip sandwich. Unlike other foods the argument isn't whether it happened here or not, it's who invented it here. Both Philippe's and Coles are adamant that they are the originator of this delicious dish. And each have a convincing story to go along with it.

In Cole's case, a customer with sensitive teeth and gums needed a way to soften the sandwich so he could enjoy it. For Philippe's, the owner accidentally dropped a roll into a pan full of drippings when he was rushing to fill an order for a policeman. Rather than wait, the officer took it as is (then returned the next day for more).

Cole's claim is earlier by about a decade, but both insist they did it first.

Another first food for Southern California are Doritos, the flavoured tortilla chip that was invented in ... Disneyland! Back in the early 1960's you could find a restaurant in Frontierland called Casa de Fritos (yes, as in Fritos corn chips). Now Walt and his team of imagineers had nothing to do with this. The restaurant was owned and run by Frito-Lay, but Alex Foods provided many of the provisions used in the restaurant, including tortillas. One day a salesman noticed that stale tortillas were being thrown out. He suggested cutting them up and deep frying them. The result is a billion dollar product that comes in over 100 flavors worldwide.

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