When Arugula Became a Thing

Zocalo — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 07:01:19 +0000

Ant farms as toys in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Stirrup pants in the late 1980s. That marble-mouthed way of singing inspired by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam in the 1990s. Styles of entertainment, clothing, and music can be hot for a minute and stale the next. But some popular things have staying power. The Beatles came to America in 1964, and bands of all stripes are still citing their influence 50 years later. A pill initially approved for “severe menstrual disorders” in 1957 ended up getting approved as birth control and remains one of the most common contraceptives today. Karl Benz built the first vehicle designed to be propelled by internal combustion in 1886, and now more than 1 billion people are speeding along the world’s highways and side streets in automobiles.

In the perpetual game of hot-or-not, what’s on our plate seems to be a particular source of obsession. Will kale still be popular 10 years from now? Will we ever get sick of pizza? What kinds of crazy ingredients can we throw together and still call a taco? In advance of David Sax’s visit to Zócalo to discuss where food fads come from, we asked chefs, restaurateurs, historians, and food writers: What’s the difference between a food fad and a food revolution? And when does it affect the larger culture?

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When Arugula Became a Thing