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In the 1930s Ruth Wakefield chopped a bar of chocolate into her biscuit dough expecting it to melt through. It did not. The chunks held their shape, and the chocolate chip cookie existed by accident.

Ruth Wakefield, Toll House Inn

Why it matters

The idea in context

Wakefield ran the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts and was a trained dietitian, not a novice — the story that she was out of baker's chocolate and improvised is probably tidied up in the retelling. What is certain is the result was wildly popular. She sold the recipe to Nestlé; the widely repeated detail that she was paid one dollar and a lifetime supply of chocolate is disputed. Nestlé printed the recipe on its packaging, where a version of it remains today.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

1930'larda Ruth Wakefield, bir kalıp çikolatayı erimesini bekleyerek kurabiye hamuruna doğradı. Erimedi. Parçalar biçimlerini korudu ve çikolata parçacıklı kurabiye kazayla var oldu.

Ruth Wakefield, Toll House Inn

Wakefield, Massachusetts'te Toll House Inn'i işletiyordu ve acemi değil, eğitimli bir diyetisyendi — pastacı çikolatası bittiği için doğaçladığı anlatısı büyük olasılıkla aktarılırken derlenip toplanmıştır. Kesin olan, sonucun çılgınca beğenilmesi. Tarifi Nestlé'ye sattı; bir dolar ve ömür boyu çikolata karşılığında ödendiğine dair sıkça yinelenen ayrıntı tartışmalıdır. Nestlé tarifi ambalajına bastı ve bir sürümü bugün hâlâ orada duruyor.

Source trail

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Background reading: Chocolate chip cookieAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

Open in the iPhone app Editorial method

Next in the open archiveIn 1590 an English relief ship reached the colony at Roanoke and found it deserted — houses dismantled, no bodies, no sign of struggle. Carved into a post was a single word: CROATOAN.Q1624

In the 1930s Ruth Wakefield chopped a bar of chocolate into her biscuit dough expecting it to melt through. It did not. The chunks held their shape, and the chocolate chip cookie existed by accident.

The idea in context

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Read beyond the card.

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