Hors d'oeuvre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hors_d%27oeuvre

A dish of mozzarella, olives and sun-dried tomatoes served alongside cured meats.

An hors d'oeuvre (/ɔːr ˈdɜːrv(rə)/ or DURV(-rə); French: hors-d'œuvre [ɔʁ dœvʁ] (listen)), appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating, such as at a reception or cocktail party. Formerly, hors d'oeuvres were also served between courses.

Typically smaller than a main dish, an hors d'oeuvre is often designed to be eaten by hand.

Etymology

Hors-d'œuvre in French literally means "outside the work"—that is, "not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal." In practice, a dish which stands on its own as a snack or supports the main course. The French spelling is the same for singular and plural usage; in English, the typographic ligature ⟨œ⟩ is usually replaced by the digraph ⟨oe⟩, with the plural commonly written hors d'oeuvres and pronounced /ɔːr ˈdɜːrvz/.

The hors d'oeuvre is also known as the starter or entrée.

Origins

A tray of canapés, a form of hors d'oeuvres, at a cocktail party

A small number of food historians believe that the tradition may have begun in Russia, where small snacks of fish, caviar and meats were common after long travels. However, it may be that the custom originated in China, possibly coming through Steppes, into Russia, Scandinavia, France and other European countries. The tradition may have reached Italy, Greece and the Balkan nations through Russia or Persia. Many national customs are related, including the Swedish smörgåsbord, Russian zakuska, Lebanese mezze, and Italian antipasto. During the Roman Period the meal practice was to have two main courses which were supplemented before the meal with small amounts of fish, vegetables, cheeses, olives and even stuffed dormice. These would be served at the start of the meal known as either gustatio or promulsis. The Greeks called the appetizer course propoma.

French service

During the Middle Ages formal French meals were served with entremets between the serving of plates. These secondary dishes could be either actual food dishes, or elaborate displays and even dramatic or musical presentations. In the 14th century, recipes for entremets were mostly made with meat, fish, pork and vegetables. By the 15th century the elaborate display and performances were served up between courses, and could be edible or displays of subjects relevant to the host, created in butter sculpture or other types of crafted work. With the introduction in the 17th century of service à la française, where all the dishes are laid out at once in very rigid symmetrical fashion, entremets began to change in meaning but were still mainly savoury. Along with this came elaborate silver and ceramic table displays as well as pièces montées. The entremets were placed between the other dishes within the main work of the meal.

Hors-d'oeuvres (1623) by Pieter Claesz

 

At about this time in the 17th century, smaller dishes began to be served by being placed outside the main work of symmetrically placed dishes. These were known as hors d'oeuvre. Hors d'oeuvres were originally served as a canapé of small toasted bread with a savoury topping before a meal. The first mention of the food item was by François Massialot in 1691, mentioned in his book: Le cuisinier roial et bourgeois (The Royal and Bourgeois Cook) and explained as "Certain dishes served in addition to those one might expect in the normal composition of the feast". In the French publication Les plaisirs de la table, Edouard Nignon stated that hors d'oeuvres originated in Asia. He went on to state that the French considered hors-d'oeuvres to be superfluous to a well cooked meal. Service à la française continued in Europe until the early 19th century. After the 19th century the entremet would become almost exclusively a sweet dish or dessert with the British custom of the "savoury" being the only remaining tradition of the savoury entremet.

The style of formal dining changed drastically in the 19th century, becoming successive courses served one after the other over a period of time. Some traditional hors d'oeuvres would remain on the table throughout the meal. These included olives, nuts, celery and radishes. The changing, contemporary hors d'oeuvres, sometimes called "dainty dishes" became more complicated in preparation. Pastries, with meat and cream sauces among other elaborate items, had become a course served after the soup.

English savouries

Food in England is heavily influenced by other countries due to the island nation's dependence on importing outside goods and sometimes, inspiration. Many English culinary words and customs have been directly borrowed from the original French (some completely Anglicized in spelling) such as: cuisine, sirloin, pastry and omelette which came from the 18th century and earlier. In the late 19th and early 20th century, even more words, foods and customs from culinary France made their way into England, such as éclair, casserole, à la carte, rôtisserie and hors d'oeuvre.

The custom of the savoury course is of British origin and comes towards the end of the meal, before dessert or sweets or even after the dessert, in contrast to the hors d'oeuvre, which is served before the meal. The British favored the savoury course as a palate cleanser before drinking after the meal, which made the hors d'oeuvre before the meal unnecessary. The savoury is generally small, well spiced and often served hot, requiring cooking just before serving. In the Victorian and Edwardian periods, savouries included such toppings as fried oysters wrapped in bacon, and Scotch woodcock, which was a savoury made of scrambled eggs, ground black pepper and Gentleman's Relish on buttered toast, served hot. In France, cheese was often part of the savoury course or added with simple fruit as a dessert. A typical Edwardian dinner might consist of up to four courses that include two soups, two types of fish, two meats, ending with several savouries then sweets.

American appetizers and cocktail hors d'oeuvres

The term appetizer is a synonym for hors d'oeuvre. It was first used in the United States and England simultaneously in 1860. Americans also use the term to define the first of three courses in a meal, an optional one generally set on the table before guests were seated. Drinks before dinner became a custom towards the end of the 19th century. As this new fashion caught on, the British took inspiration from the French to begin serving hors d'oeuvres before dinner. A cocktail party is considered a small gathering with mixed drinks and light snacks. Hors d'oeuvres may be served as the only food offering at cocktail parties and receptions, where no dinner is served afterward. After the end of prohibition in the United States, the cocktail party gained acceptance. Prior to the First World War, American dinner guests would be expected to enter the dining room immediately where drinks would be served at the table with appetizers. This changed by the 1920s, when hors d'oeuvres were served prior to a non-alcoholic cocktail; however, after the repeal of Prohibition in the United States, cocktail parties became popular with many different hors d'oeuvres meant as something to help counter the stronger drinks. It is the cocktail party that helped transfer the hors d'oeuvres from the formal dining table to the mobility of the serving tray. These appetizers passed around the cocktail party may also be referred to as canapés.

Preparation

In restaurants or large estates, hors d'oeuvres are prepared in a garde manger which is a cool room. Hors d'oeuvres are often prepared in advance. Some types may be refrigerated or frozen and then precooked and then reheated in an oven or microwave oven as necessary before serving.

Use

Steward in a vintage 1920s railcar serving canapés on a tray as part of butler style service

If there is an extended period between when guests arrive and when the meal is eaten, for example during a cocktail hour, these might serve the purpose of sustaining guests during the wait, in the same way that apéritifs are served as a drink before meals.

It is also an unwritten rule that the dishes served as hors d'oeuvres do not give any clue to the main meal. They are served with the main meal menu in view either in hot, room temperature or cold forms; when served hot they are brought out after all the guests arrive so that everyone gets to taste the dishes.

Hors d'oeuvres before a meal may be rotated by waiters or passed. Stationary hors d'oeuvres served at the table on a tray may be referred to as table hors d'oeuvres or as buffet-style. Passed hors d'oeuvres provided by servers are part of butler-style service. or butlered hors d'oeuvres.

Examples

A tray of hors d'oeuvres

Though any food served before the main course is technically an hors d'oeuvre, the phrase is generally limited to individual items, such as cheese or fruit. A glazed fig topped with mascarpone and wrapped with prosciutto is an hors d'oeuvre, and plain figs served on a platter may also be served as hors d'oeuvres. It could be pickled beets or anchovy eggs as topping over tomatoes as part of the initial "drinks" session such as of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. They are also served in the forms of dips, spreads, pastries, olives or nuts with or without a base of egg, cheese, meats, vegetables, seafood or breads. Single cold items served are smoked salmon, avocado pear, caviar, pâté, shellfish cocktails and melon with garnishes and decorations. Seasoned hot dishes served are of vegetables, meat, fish, egg, pasta, cheese, soufflés, tartlets, puff pastry or choux pastry.

• Bruschetta (Italian pronunciation: [bruˈsketta] (listen))
• Canapés
• Caviar
• Charcuterie
• Deviled eggs
• Dumplings
• Pickles
• Pigs in blankets
• Smoked egg
• Spanakopita
• Tongue toast

• Hors d'oeuvres
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  Appetizers in a restaurant
  
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  Tomato bruschetta
  
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  Various crudités
  
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  Deviled eggs, a cold hors d'oeuvre
  
• 

  Obložené chlebíčky, a Czech and Slovak appetizer or snack
  
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  A selection of modern hors-d'oeuvres
  
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  Hors d'oeuvres in Azerbaijani cuisine
  

By culture and language

In the Americas

In Mexico botanas refers to the vegetarian varieties commonly served in small portions in wine bars. In many Central American countries, hors d'oeuvres are known as bocas (lit. "mouthfuls"). Pasapalos (lit. "drink passer") is Venezuelan for an hors d'oeuvre.

In Asia

Meze in Jordanian cuisine

In Arabic moqabbelat (مقبلات, "things which make one accept what is to come". From root قبل lit. "to accept") is the term for an hors d'oeuvre. In India it is known as chaat which is served throughout the day. Dahi puri is another snack from India which is especially popular from the city of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. Chaat is the snack food consumed separately and not part of main course meals.

Zensai (前菜, lit. before dish) is Japanese for an hors d'oeuvre; more commonly, ōdoburu (オードブル), which is a direct transcription of hors d'oeuvre, is used. In Korea, banchan (반찬) is a small serving of vegetables, cereals or meats. Additional Korean terms for hors d'oeuvres include jeonchae (전채), meaning "before dish" or epita-ijeo (에피타이저), meaning "appetizer".^[53] In Vietnamese Đồ nguội khai vị ("cold plate first course") is the name for an hors d'oeuvre.^{[citation needed]} In Mandarin, lěng pán 冷盘 ("cold plate") or qián cài 前菜 ("before dish") are terms used for hors d'oeuvres, which are served in steamer baskets or on small plates. Meze is a selection of small dishes served in Mediterranean cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, and Balkan cuisine. Mezedakia is a term for small mezes. Pembuka (lit. "opening") is Indonesian for an hors d'oeuvre. Yemekaltı is Turkish for an hors d'oeuvre. Zakuskis are hors d'oeuvres in Russian cuisine and other post-Soviet cuisines, served in the form of a buffet of cured meats and fishes. Caviar served in Iran and Russia is the traditional roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Seas. 

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  Chaat, a starter in Indian cuisine
  
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  A sampling of starters in Northern Thai cuisine (Lanna cuisine)
  
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  Zensai in Japanese cuisine
  

In Europe

Zakuski in Russian cuisine

In England, devils on horseback is a hot hors d'oeuvre in different recipes, but in general they are a variation on angels on horseback, made by replacing oysters with dried fruit. The majority of recipes contain a pitted date (though prunes are sometimes used). Starters is the colloquial term for hors d'oeuvres in the UK, Ireland and India. Crudités from France are a blend of salads of raw vegetables and the serving has a minimum of three vegetables of striking colors. In Italian antipasto means it is served cold in the form of olive, cheese, pickled vegetables; other similar hors d'oeuvres can be found in the rest of Southern Europe under different names (entrada in Portuguese, entrante or entremés in Spanish). Voorgerecht in Dutch means the dish ("gerecht") before ("voor") the main course. Fattoush is a bread salad in Levantine cuisine made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread (khubz 'arabi) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables. It belongs to the family of dishes known as fattat (plural) or fatta, which use stale flatbread as a base.

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  Various hors d'oeuvres at a banquet of Romanian cuisine
  
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  An appetizer served at a restaurant serving Swiss cuisine
  
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  Typical Carinthian "brettljause", composed of different kinds of cold meat, horseradish, hard-boiled egg, meat paste, vegetables, butter and curd cheese
  

In the United States

Poke is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in the cuisine of Hawaii

In the United States the custom appears to have come from California, where a foreign saloon owner may have put out trays of simple hors d'oeuvres to serve his customers. This tradition soon became the 5-cent beer and free lunch in early America before prohibition ended the custom.

In the U.S., appetizers, referring to anything served before a meal, is the most common term for hors d'oeuvres. Light snacks served outside of the context of a meal are called hors d'oeuvres (with the English-language pluralization).

Hawaii

In the Hawaiian language hors d'oeuvres and appetizers are called pūpū. Hawaiian culinary influences are very diverse due to the multiple ethnicities living in the islands. This diversity, along with the Americanization of entertaining in the mid 20th century led to the Hawaiian Cocktail and the pūpū (hors-d'oeuvre) served at the beginning of luaus. This invention of a faux Polynesian experience is heavily influenced by Don the Beachcomber, who is credited for the creation of the pūpū platter and the drink named the Zombie for his Hollywood restaurant. At Don's the food was traditional Cantonese cuisine served with a fancy presentation. The first pūpū platters were eggrolls, chicken wings, spare ribs as well as other Chinese-American foods. Eventually Trader Vic would create the Mai Tai in his restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Tiki bar would become an American cocktail tradition.

In Oceania

Amuse-bouche

Hors d'oeuvres, also called amuse-bouches, served around bars in Australia are oysters and alsace foie gras. Appetizers in New Zealand are lamb skewer or blue cod sliders. In New Zealand the Māori call their snacks Kai Timotimo. Kiribati appetizers served include pastes made from chickpeas and eggplant, meat dishes with spices and wheat. Samoan foil chicken and roast pork, tidbits of meat in a smoky, spicy sauce are appetizers in Samoa. In Tonga, puu-puus or appetizers served are Waikiki shrimp and grilled pineapple with dipping sauce.

In other countries

Appetizers served in Kenya are raw and fresh vegetables and assorted dips with decorations. Before modern-day hors d'oeuvre were introduced from Europe into South Africa, starters served consisted of eastern fish sambals and cooked bone marrow served with bread.

Peanut butter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter 

 

Peanut butter

"Smooth" peanut butter in a jar
Type	Spread
Place of origin	Canada
Created by	Marcellus Gilmore Edson
Main ingredients	Peanuts (additional ingredients include salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers)
Cookbook: Peanut butter   Media: Peanut butter

Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It often contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is popular in many countries. The United States is a leading exporter of peanut butter and itself consumes $800 million of peanut butter annually.

Peanut butter is served as a spread on bread, toast, or crackers, and used to make sandwiches (notably the peanut butter and jelly sandwich). It is also used in a number of breakfast dishes and desserts, such as peanut-flavored granola, smoothies, crepes, cookies, brownies, or croissants. It is similar to other nut butters such as cashew butter and almond butter.

History

Patent for peanut butter

 

An antique Shedd's Peanut Butter tin. Shedd was an American brand which was discontinued in the 1980s.

 

The use of peanuts dates to the Aztecs and Incas.

Marcellus Gilmore Edson (1849 – 1940) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, obtained a patent for a method of producing peanut butter from roasted peanuts using heated surfaces in 1884. Edson's cooled product had "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment" according to his patent application which described a process of milling roasted peanuts until the peanuts reached "a fluid or semi-fluid state". He mixed sugar into the paste to harden its consistency. A businessman from St. Louis named George Bayle produced and sold peanut butter in the form of a snack food in 1894.

John Harvey Kellogg, known for his line of prepared breakfast cereals, was issued a patent for a "Process of Producing Alimentary Products" in 1898, and used peanuts, although he boiled the peanuts rather than roasting them. Kellogg's Western Health Reform Institute served peanut butter to patients because they needed a food that contained a lot of protein, yet which could be eaten without chewing. At first, peanut butter was a food for wealthy people, as it became popular initially as a product served at expensive health care institutes.

A Meal Ready to Eat or "MRE kit" which contains peanut butter packets.

 

Early peanut-butter-making machines were developed by Joseph Lambert, who had worked at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium, and Dr. Ambrose Straub who obtained a patent for a peanut-butter-making machine in 1903. "In 1922, chemist Joseph Rosefield invented a process for making smooth peanut butter that kept the oil from separating by using partially hydrogenated oil"; Rosefield "...licensed his invention to the company that created Peter Pan peanut butter" in 1928 and in "...1932 he began producing his own peanut butter under the name Skippy". Under the Skippy brand, Rosefield developed a new method of churning creamy peanut butter, giving it a smoother consistency. He also mixed fragments of peanut into peanut butter, creating the first "chunky"-style peanut butter. In 1955, Procter & Gamble launched a peanut butter named Jif, which was sweeter than other brands, due to the use of "sugar and molasses" in its recipe.

As the US National Peanut Board confirms, "Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter." Carver was given credit in popular folklore for many inventions that did not come out of his lab. By the time Carver published his document about peanuts, entitled "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" in 1916, many methods of preparation of peanut butter had been developed or patented by various pharmacists, doctors, and food scientists working in the US and Canada. January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day in the United States.

Types

A jar of commercial "creamy" peanut butter.

The two main types of peanut butter are crunchy (or chunky) and smooth (or creamy). In crunchy peanut butter, some coarsely-ground peanut fragments are included to give extra texture. The peanuts in smooth peanut butter are ground uniformly, creating a creamy texture.

In the US, food regulations require that any product labelled "peanut butter" must contain at least 90% peanuts; the remaining <10 a="" an="" and="" as="" butter="" can="" class="mw-redirect" consists="" contain="" emulsifier="" from="" hardened="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_sweetener" in="" labelled="" no="" of="" oil="" or="" peanut="" prevents="" product="" salt="" separating="" sweetener="" the="" title="Artificial sweetener" us="" usually="" vegetable="" which="">artificial sweeteners

, chemical preservatives, [or] natural or artificial coloring additives." Some brands of peanut butter are sold without emulsifiers that bind the peanut oils with the peanut paste, and so require stirring after separation. Most major brands of peanut butter add white sugar, but there are others that use dried cane syrup, agave syrup, or coconut palm sugar.

Organic and artisanal peanut butters are available, but their markets are small.

Production process

Planting and harvesting

A tractor being used to complete the first stage of the peanut harvesting process

Due to weather conditions, peanuts are usually planted in spring. The peanut comes from a yellow flower which bends over and infiltrates the soil after blooming and wilting, and the peanut starts to grow in the soil. Peanuts are harvested from late August to October, while the weather is clear. This weather allows for dry soil so that when picked, the soil does not stick to the stems and pods. The peanuts are then removed from vines and transported to a peanut shelling machine for mechanical drying. After cropping, the peanuts are delivered to warehouses for cleaning, where they are stored unshelled in silos.

Shelling

Shelling must be conducted carefully lest the seeds be damaged during the removal of the shell. The moisture of the unshelled peanuts is controlled to avoid excessive frangibility of the shells and kernels, which in turn, reduces the amount of dust present in the plant. After, the peanuts are sent to a series of rollers set specifically for the batch of peanuts, where they are cracked. After cracking, the peanuts go through a screening process where they are inspected for contaminants.

Roasting

The dry roasting process employs either the batch or continuous method. In the batch method, peanuts are heated in large quantities in a revolving oven at about 800 °F (427 °C). Next, the peanuts in each batch are uniformly held and roasted in the oven at 320 °F (160 °C) for about 40 to 60 minutes. This method is good to use when the peanuts differ in moisture content. In the continuous method, a hot air roaster is employed. The peanuts pass through the roaster whilst being rocked to permit even roasting. A photometer indicates the completion of dry roasting. This method is favored by large manufacturers since it can lower the rate of spoilage and requires less labor.

Cooling

After dry roasting, peanuts are removed from the oven as quickly as possible and directly placed in a blower-cooler cylinder. There are suction fans in the metal cylinder that can pull a large volume of air through, so the peanuts can be cooled more efficiently. The peanuts will not be dried out because cooling can help retain some oil and moisture. The cooling process is completed when the temperature in the cylinder reaches 86 °F (30 °C).

Blanching

After the kernels have been cooled down, the peanuts will undergo either heat blanching or water blanching to remove the remaining seed coats. Compared to heat blanching, water blanching is a new process. Water blanching first appeared in 1949.

Heat blanching

Peanuts are heated by hot air at 280 °F (138 °C) for not more than 20 minutes in order to soften and split the skins. After that, the peanuts are exposed to continuous steam in a blanching machine. The skins are then removed using either bristles or soft rubber belts. After that, these skins are separated and blown into waste bags. Meanwhile, the hearts of peanuts are segregated through inspection.

Water blanching

After the kernels are arranged in troughs, the skin of the kernel is cracked on opposite sides by rolling it through sharp stationary blades. While the skins are removed, the kernels are brought through a one-minute hot water bath and placed on a swinging pad with canvas on top. The swinging action of the pad rubs off the skins. Afterward, the blanched kernels are dried for at least six hours by hot air at 120 °F (49 °C).

After blanching, the peanuts are screened and inspected to eliminate the burnt and rotten peanuts. A blower is also used to remove light peanuts and discolored peanuts are removed using a color sorting machine.

Grinding

After blanching the peanuts are sent to grinding to be manufactured into peanut butter. The peanuts are then sent through two sizes of grinders. The first grinder produces a medium grind, and the second produces a fine grind. At this point, salt, sugar and a vegetable oil stabilizer are added to the fine grind to produce the peanut butter. This adds flavor and allows the peanut butter to stay as a homogenous mixture. Chopped peanuts may also be added at this stage to produce “chunky” peanut butter.

Packaging

Before packaging, the peanut butter must first be cooled in order to be sealed in jars. The mixture is pumped into a heat exchanger in order to cool it to about 120 °F (49 °C). Once cool, the peanut butter is pumped into jars and vacuum sealed. This vacuum sealing rids the container of oxygen so that oxidation cannot occur, preserving the food. The jars are then labelled and set aside until crystallization occurs. The peanut butter is then packaged into cartons distributed to retailers, where they are stored at room temperature and sold to consumers.

A 2012 article stated that "China and India are the first and second largest producers, respectively", of peanuts. The United States of America "...is the third largest producer of peanuts (Georgia and Texas are the two major peanut-producing states)" and "more than half of the American peanut crop goes into making peanut butter."

Health

Nutritional profile

Peanut butter,
smooth style, without salt

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,462 kJ (588 kcal)
Carbohydrates	20 g
Starch	4.8 g
Sugars	9.2 g
Dietary fiber	6 g
Fat	50 g
Protein	25 g
Vitamins	Quantity %DV†
Thiamine (B1)	10% 0.11 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	9% 0.11 mg
Niacin (B3)	88% 13.2 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	22% 1.1 mg
Vitamin B6	42% 0.55 mg
Folate (B9)	9% 35 μg
Vitamin E	39% 5.9 mg
Minerals	Quantity %DV†
Calcium	5% 54 mg
Iron	17% 2.2 mg
Magnesium	50% 179 mg
Manganese	71% 1.5 mg
Phosphorus	48% 335 mg
Potassium	14% 649 mg
Sodium	0% 0 mg
Zinc	28% 2.7 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	1.8 g
Alcohol (ethanol)	0 g
Caffeine	0 mg
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

In a 100 gram amount, smooth peanut butter supplies 588 Calories and is composed of 50% fat, 25% protein, 20% carbohydrates (including 6% dietary fiber), and 2% water (table). 

Peanut butter is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber, vitamin E, pantothenic acid, niacin, and vitamin B6 (table, USDA National Nutrient Database). Also high in content are the dietary minerals manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper (table). Peanut butter is a moderate source (10–19% DV) of thiamin, iron, and potassium (table).

Both crunchy/chunky and smooth peanut butter are sources of saturated (primarily palmitic acid, 21% of total fat) and monounsaturated fats, mainly oleic acid as 47% of total fat, and polyunsaturated fat (28% of total fat), primarily as linoleic acid).

Peanut allergy

For people with a peanut allergy, peanut butter can cause a variety of possible allergic reactions, including life-threatening anaphylaxis. This potential effect has led to banning peanut butter, among other common foods, in some schools.

Symptoms

• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Tightening of the throat
• Itching
• Skin reactions such as hives and swelling
• Digestive problems

Other uses

Peanut butter cookies, a popular type of cookie made from peanut butter and other ingredients

As an ingredient

Buckeyes, a type of peanut-butter-based confectionery product.

Peanut butter is included as an ingredient in many recipes: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, and candies where peanut is the main flavor, such as Reese's Pieces, or various peanut butter and chocolate treats, such as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and the Crispy Crunch candy bar. 

Peanut butter's flavor combines well with other flavors, such as oatmeal, cheese, cured meats, savory sauces, and various types of breads and crackers. The creamy or crunchy, fatty, salty taste pairs very well with complementary soft and sweet ingredients like fruit preserves, bananas, apples, and honey. The taste can also be enhanced by similarly salty things like bacon, especially if the peanut butter has added sweetness.

One snack for children is called "Ants on a Log", with a celery stick acting as the "log". The groove in the celery stick is filled with peanut butter and raisins arranged in a row along the top are "ants".

Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter-based food used to fight malnutrition in famine-stricken countries. A single pack contains 500 calories, can be stored unrefrigerated for 2 years, and requires no cooking or preparation.

As animal food

Peanut butter inside a hollow chew toy is a method to occupy a dog with a favored treat. A common outdoor bird feeder is a coating of peanut butter on a pine cone with an overlying layer of birdseed.

Other names

A slang term for peanut butter in World War II was "monkey butter". In the Netherlands peanut butter is called pindakaas (literally "peanut cheese") rather than pindaboter ("peanut butter") because the word butter was a legally protected term for products that contain actual butter, prompting Calvé, the company which first marketed it in the country in 1948, to use kaas instead. In the US, food regulations require that "peanut butter" must contain at least 90% peanuts, otherwise it must be called "peanut spread".

George Washington Carver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

George Washington Carver
Photograph circa 1910
Born	1860s Diamond, Missouri, U.S.
Died	January 5, 1943 (about 79 years old) Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.
Resting place	Tuskegee University
Alma mater	Iowa State University
Awards	Spingarn Medal (1923)

George Washington Carver (1860s – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor. He actively promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century.

While a professor at Tuskegee Institute, Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes as a source of their own food and to improve their quality of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. Although he spent years developing and promoting numerous products made from peanuts, none became commercially successful.

Apart from his work to improve the lives of farmers, Carver was also a leader in promoting environmentalism. He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP. In an era of high racial polarization, his fame reached beyond the black community. He was widely recognized and praised in the white community for his many achievements and talents. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed Carver a "Black Leonardo".

Early years

The farm house of Moses Carver (built in 1881), near the place where George Carver lived as a youth

Carver was born into slavery in Diamond Grove, Newton County, near Crystal Place, now known as Diamond, Missouri, some time in the early-mid 1860s. The exact date of his birth is uncertain and was not known to Carver. However, it was before slavery was abolished in Missouri in January 1865 after the American Civil War. His master, Moses Carver, was a German American immigrant who had purchased George's parents, Mary and Giles, from William P. McGinnis on October 9, 1855, for $700.

When George was only a week old, he, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by night raiders from Arkansas. George's brother, James, was rushed to safety from the kidnappers. The kidnappers sold the slaves in Kentucky. Moses Carver hired John Bentley to find them, but he located only the infant George. Moses negotiated with the raiders to gain the boy's return, and rewarded Bentley. After slavery was abolished, Moses Carver and his wife Susan raised George and his older brother James as their own children. They encouraged George to continue his intellectual pursuits, and "Aunt Susan" taught him the basics of reading and writing.

Black people were not allowed at the public school in Diamond Grove. George decided to go to a school for black children 10 miles (16 km) south in Neosho. When he reached the town, he found the school closed for the night. He slept in a nearby barn. By his own account, the next morning he met a kind woman, Mariah Watkins, from whom he wished to rent a room. When he identified himself as "Carver's George," as he had done his whole life, she replied that from now on his name was "George Carver". George liked Mariah Watkins, and her words, "You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give your learning back to the people", made a great impression on him.

At the age of 13, due to his desire to attend the academy there, he relocated to the home of another foster family in Fort Scott, Kansas. After witnessing a black man killed by a group of whites, Carver left the city. He attended a series of schools before earning his diploma at Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.

College education

At work in his laboratory

Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at Highland University in Highland, Kansas. When he arrived, however, they refused to let him attend because of his race. In August 1886, Carver traveled by wagon with J. F. Beeler from Highland to Eden Township in Ness County, Kansas. He homesteaded a claim near Beeler, where he maintained a small conservatory of plants and flowers and a geological collection. He manually plowed 17 acres (69,000 m²) of the claim, planting rice, corn, Indian corn and garden produce, as well as various fruit trees, forest trees, and shrubbery. He also earned money by odd jobs in town and worked as a ranch hand.

In early 1888, Carver obtained a $300 loan at the Bank of Ness City for education. By June he left the area. In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver's talent for painting flowers and plants; she encouraged him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames.

When he began there in 1891, he was the first black student at Iowa State. Carver's Bachelor's thesis for a degree in Agriculture was "Plants as Modified by Man", dated 1894. Iowa State University professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel convinced Carver to continue there for his master's degree. Carver did research at the Iowa Experiment Station under Pammel during the next two years. His work at the experiment station in plant pathology and mycology first gained him national recognition and respect as a botanist. Carver received his master of science degree in 1896. Carver taught as the first black faculty member at Iowa State. 

Despite occasionally being addressed as "doctor," Carver never received an official doctorate, and in a personal communication with Louis H. Pammel, he noted that it was a "misnomer", given to him by others due to his abilities and their assumptions about his education. With that said, both Simpson College and Selma University awarded him honorary doctorates of science in his lifetime. Iowa State later awarded him a doctorate of humane letters posthumously in 1994.

Tuskegee Institute

George Washington Carver (front row, center) poses with fellow faculty of Tuskegee Institute in this c. 1902 photograph taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston.

In 1896, Booker T. Washington, the first principal and president of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), invited Carver to head its Agriculture Department. Carver taught there for 47 years, developing the department into a strong research center and working with two additional college presidents during his tenure. He taught methods of crop rotation, introduced several alternative cash crops for farmers that would also improve the soil of areas heavily cultivated in cotton, initiated research into crop products (chemurgy), and taught generations of black students farming techniques for self-sufficiency.

Carver designed a mobile classroom to take education out to farmers. He called it a "Jesup wagon" after the New York financier and philanthropist Morris Ketchum Jesup, who provided funding to support the program.

To recruit Carver to Tuskegee, Washington gave him an above average salary and two rooms for his personal use, although both concessions were resented by some other faculty. Because he had earned a master's in a scientific field from a "white" institution, some faculty perceived him as arrogant.^[22] Unmarried faculty members normally had to share rooms, with two to a room, in the spartan early days of the institute.

One of Carver's duties was to administer the Agricultural Experiment Station farms. He had to manage the production and sale of farm products to generate revenue for the Institute. He soon proved to be a poor administrator. In 1900, Carver complained that the physical work and the letter-writing required were too much. In 1904, an Institute committee reported that Carver's reports on yields from the poultry yard were exaggerated, and Washington confronted Carver about the issue. Carver replied in writing, "Now to be branded as a liar and party to such hellish deception it is more than I can bear, and if your committee feel that I have willfully lied or [was] party to such lies as were told my resignation is at your disposal." During Washington's last five years at Tuskegee, Carver submitted or threatened his resignation several times: when the administration reorganized the agriculture programs, when he disliked a teaching assignment, to manage an experiment station elsewhere, and when he did not get summer teaching assignments in 1913–14. In each case, Washington smoothed things over. 

Photograph of George Washington Carver taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1906.

Carver started his academic career as a researcher and teacher. In 1911, Washington wrote a letter to him complaining that Carver had not followed orders to plant particular crops at the experiment station. This revealed Washington's micro-management of Carver's department, which he had headed for more than 10 years by then. Washington at the same time refused Carver's requests for a new laboratory, research supplies for his exclusive use, and respite from teaching classes. Washington praised Carver's abilities in teaching and original research but said about his administrative skills:

When it comes to the organization of classes, the ability required to secure a properly organized and large school or section of a school, you are wanting in ability. When it comes to the matter of practical farm managing which will secure definite, practical, financial results, you are wanting again in ability.

In 1911, Carver complained that his laboratory had not received the equipment which Washington had promised 11 months before. He also complained about Institute committee meetings.^[30] Washington praised Carver in his 1911 memoir, My Larger Education: Being Chapters from My Experience. Washington called Carver "one of the most thoroughly scientific men of the Negro race with whom I am acquainted." After Washington died in 1915, his successor made fewer demands on Carver for administrative tasks.

While a professor at Tuskegee, Carver joined the Gamma Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He spoke at the 1930 Conclave that was held at Tuskegee, Alabama, in which he delivered a powerful and emotional speech to the men in attendance.

From 1915 to 1923, Carver concentrated on researching and experimenting with new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans, pecans, and other crops, as well as having his assistants research and compile existing uses. This work, and especially his speaking to a national conference of the Peanut Growers Association in 1920 and in testimony before Congress in 1921 to support passage of a tariff on imported peanuts, brought him wide publicity and increasing renown. In these years, he became one of the most well-known African Americans of his time.

Rise to fame

"One of America's great scientists." U.S. World War II poster circa 1943

Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. Together with other agricultural experts, he urged farmers to restore nitrogen to their soils by practicing systematic crop rotation: alternating cotton crops with plantings of sweet potatoes or legumes (such as peanuts, soybeans and cowpeas). These crops both restored nitrogen to the soil and were good for human consumption. Following the crop rotation practice resulted in improved cotton yields and gave farmers alternative cash crops. To train farmers to successfully rotate and cultivate the new crops, Carver developed an agricultural extension program for Alabama that was similar to the one at Iowa State. To encourage better nutrition in the South, he widely distributed recipes using the alternative crops.

Additionally, he founded an industrial research laboratory, where he and assistants worked to popularize the new crops by developing hundreds of applications for them. They did original research as well as promoting applications and recipes, which they collected from others. Carver distributed his information as agricultural bulletins.

Peanut specimen collected by Carver

Carver's work was known by officials in the national capital before he became a public figure. President Theodore Roosevelt publicly admired his work. Former professors of Carver's from Iowa State University were appointed to positions as Secretary of Agriculture: James Wilson, a former dean and professor of Carver's, served from 1897 to 1913. Henry Cantwell Wallace served from 1921 to 1924. He knew Carver personally because his son Henry A. Wallace and the researcher were friends. The younger Wallace served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1933 to 1940, and as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's vice president from 1941 to 1945.

The American industrialist, farmer, and inventor William Edenborn of Winn Parish, Louisiana, grew peanuts on his demonstration farm. He consulted with Carver.

In 1916, Carver was made a member of the Royal Society of Arts in England, one of only a handful of Americans at that time to receive this honor. Carver's promotion of peanuts gained him the most notice. In 1919, Carver wrote to a peanut company about the potential he saw for peanut milk. Both he and the peanut industry seemed unaware that in 1917 William Melhuish had secured US 1243855, issued 1917-10-23 for a milk substitute made from peanuts and soybeans.

The United Peanut Associations of America invited Carver to speak at their 1920 convention. He discussed "The Possibilities of the Peanut" and exhibited 145 peanut products. By 1920, the U.S. peanut farmers were being undercut by low prices on imported peanuts from the Republic of China. 

In 1921, peanut farmers and industry representatives planned to appear at Congressional hearings to ask for a tariff. Based on the quality of Carver's presentation at their convention, they asked the African-American professor to testify on the tariff issue before the Ways and Means Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Due to segregation, it was highly unusual for an African American to appear as an expert witness at Congress representing European-American industry and farmers. Southern congressmen, reportedly shocked at Carver's arriving to testify, were said to have mocked him. As he talked about the importance of the peanut and its uses for American agriculture, the committee members repeatedly extended the time for his testimony. The Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 was passed including one on imported peanuts. Carver's testifying to Congress made him widely known as a public figure.

Life while famous

United States Farm Security Administration portrait, March 1942

During the last two decades of his life, Carver seemed to enjoy his celebrity status. He was often on the road promoting Tuskegee University, peanuts, and racial harmony. Although he only published six agricultural bulletins after 1922, he published articles in peanut industry journals and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Professor Carver's Advice". Business leaders came to seek his help, and he often responded with free advice. Three American presidents—Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt—met with him, and the Crown Prince of Sweden studied with him for three weeks. From 1923 to 1933, Carver toured white Southern colleges for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

With his increasing notability, Carver became the subject of biographies and articles. Raleigh H. Merritt contacted him for his biography published in 1929. Merritt wrote:

At present not a great deal has been done to utilize Dr. Carver's discoveries commercially. He says that he is merely scratching the surface of scientific investigations of the possibilities of the peanut and other Southern products.

In 1932, the writer James Saxon Childers wrote that Carver and his peanut products were almost solely responsible for the rise in U.S. peanut production after the boll weevil devastated the American cotton crop beginning about 1892. His article, "A Boy Who Was Traded for a Horse" (1932), in The American Magazine, and its 1937 reprint in Reader's Digest, contributed to this myth about Carver's influence. Other popular media tended to exaggerate Carver's impact on the peanut industry.

From 1933 to 1935, Carver worked to develop peanut oil massages to treat infantile paralysis (polio). Ultimately, researchers found that the massages, not the peanut oil, provided the benefits of maintaining some mobility to paralyzed limbs.

From 1935 to 1937, Carver participated in the USDA Disease Survey. Carver had specialized in plant diseases and mycology for his master's degree.

In 1937, Carver attended two chemurgy conferences, an emerging field in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, concerned with developing new products from crops. He was invited by Henry Ford to speak at the conference held in Dearborn, Michigan, and they developed a friendship. That year Carver's health declined, and Ford later installed an elevator at the Tuskegee dormitory where Carver lived, so that the elderly man would not have to climb stairs.

Carver had been frugal in his life, and in his seventies he established a legacy by creating a museum of his work, as well as the George Washington Carver Foundation at Tuskegee in 1938 to continue agricultural research. He donated nearly US$60,000 (equivalent to $1,089,787 in 2019) in his savings to create the foundation.

Relationships

"Austin Curtis - Scientist successor to Dr. Carver", cartoon by C.H. Alston

Carver never married. At age 40, he began a courtship with Sarah L. Hunt, an elementary school teacher and the sister-in-law of Warren Logan, Treasurer of Tuskegee Institute. This lasted three years until she took a teaching job in California. In her 2015 biography, Christina Vella reviews his relationships and suggests that Carver was bisexual and constrained by mores of his historic period.

When he was 70, Carver established a friendship and research partnership with the scientist Austin W. Curtis, Jr. This young black man, a graduate of Cornell University, had some teaching experience before coming to Tuskegee. Carver bequeathed to Curtis his royalties from an authorized 1943 biography by Rackham Holt. After Carver died in 1943, Curtis was fired from Tuskegee Institute. He left Alabama and resettled in Detroit. There he manufactured and sold peanut-based personal care products.

Death

Painting by Betsy Graves Reyneau

Upon returning home one day, Carver took a bad fall down a flight of stairs; he was found unconscious by a maid who took him to a hospital. Carver died January 5, 1943, at the age of 78 from complications (anemia) resulting from this fall. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University. Due to his frugality, Carver's life savings totaled $60,000, all of which he donated in his last years and at his death to the Carver Museum and to the George Washington Carver Foundation.

On his grave was written, He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.

Personal life

Voice pitch

Even as an adult Carver spoke with a high pitch. Historian Linda O. McMurry noted that he "was a frail and sickly child" who suffered "from a severe case of whooping cough and frequent bouts of what was called croup." McMurry contested the diagnosis of croup, holding rather that "His stunted growth and apparently impaired vocal cords suggest instead tubercular or pneumococcal infection. Frequent infections of that nature could have caused the growth of polyps on the larynx and may have resulted from a gamma globulin deficiency. ... until his death the high pitch of his voice startled all who met him, and he suffered from frequent chest congestion and loss of voice."

There are some rumors that Carver was castrated. Harley Flack and Edmund Pellegrino's book African-American Perspectives on Biomedical Ethics (1992) reports that Carver was castrated by a physician at age 11 at the request of his white master. A friend of Carver's was told by the autopsy doctors — according to Carver's biographer Peter Burchard, who told this to Iowa Public Radio in 2010 — that Carver had only scar tissue instead of testicles. If it is true that he was castrated before puberty, it would explain his high voice, but it would also suggest that he should not have been able to grow his beard.

Christianity

Carver believed he could have faith both in God and science and integrated them into his life. He testified on many occasions that his faith in Jesus was the only mechanism by which he could effectively pursue and perform the art of science. Carver became a Christian when he was still a young boy, as he wrote in connection to his conversion in 1931:

I was just a mere boy when converted, hardly ten years old. There isn't much of a story to it. God just came into my heart one afternoon while I was alone in the 'loft' of our big barn while I was shelling corn to carry to the mill to be ground into meal.
A dear little white boy, one of our neighbors, about my age came by one Saturday morning, and in talking and playing he told me he was going to Sunday school tomorrow morning. I was eager to know what a Sunday school was. He said they sang hymns and prayed. I asked him what prayer was and what they said. I do not remember what he said; only remember that as soon as he left I climbed up into the 'loft,' knelt down by the barrel of corn and prayed as best I could. I do not remember what I said. I only recall that I felt so good that I prayed several times before I quit.
My brother and myself were the only colored children in that neighborhood and of course, we could not go to church or Sunday school, or school of any kind.
That was my simple conversion, and I have tried to keep the faith.

— G. W. Carver; Letter to Isabelle Coleman; July 24, 1931

He was not expected to live past his 21st birthday due to failing health. He lived well past the age of 21, and his belief deepened as a result. Throughout his career, he always found friendship with other Christians. He relied on them especially when criticized by the scientific community and media regarding his research methodology.

Carver viewed faith in Jesus Christ as a means of destroying both barriers of racial disharmony and social stratification. He was as concerned with his students' character development as he was with their intellectual development. He compiled a list of eight cardinal virtues for his students to strive toward: 

A monument to Carver at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis

• Be clean both inside and out.
• Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
• Lose, if need be, without squealing.
• Win without bragging.
• Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
• Be too brave to lie.
• Be too generous to cheat.
• Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Beginning in 1906 at Tuskegee, Carver led a Bible class on Sundays for several students at their request. He regularly portrayed stories by acting them out. He responded to critics with this: "When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."

Honors

• 1923, Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, awarded annually for outstanding achievement.
• 1928, honorary doctorate from Simpson College
• 1939, the Roosevelt Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Southern Agriculture
• 1940, Carver established the George Washington Carver Foundation at the Tuskegee Institute.
• 1941, The George Washington Carver Museum was dedicated at the Tuskegee Institute.
• 1942, Ford built a replica of Carver's birth cabin at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn as a tribute.
• 1942, Ford dedicated a laboratory in Dearborn named after Carver.
• 1943, Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver launched
• 1947, George Washington Carver Area High School, named in his honor is opened by the Chicago Public Schools in the Riverdale/Far South Side area of Chicago, Illinois, United States.
• 1950, George Washington Carver State Park named
• 1951-1954, U.S. Mint features Carver on a 50 cents silver commemorative coin
• 1965, Ballistic missile submarine USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) launched.
• 1969, Iowa State University constructs Carver Hall in honor of Carver– a graduate of the university.
• 1943?, the US Congress designated January 5, the anniversary of his death, as George Washington Carver Recognition Day.
• 1999, USDA names a portion of its Beltsville, Maryland campus the George Washington Carver Center.
• 2004, George Washington Carver Bridge, Des Moines, Iowa
• 2007, the Missouri Botanical Gardens has a garden area named in his honor, with a commemorative statue and material about his work
• Willowbrook Neighborhood Park in Willowbrook, California was renamed George Washington Carver Park in his honor.
• Schools named for Carver include the George Washington Carver Elementary School of the Compton Unified School District in Los Angeles County, California, the George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science of the Sacramento City Unified School District in Sacramento, California, and the Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School, a Newark public school in Newark, New Jersey.
• Taxa named after him include: Colletotrichum carveri and Metasphaeria carveri, both named by Job Bicknell Ellis and Benjamin Matlack Everhart in 1902; Cercospora carveriana, named by Pier Andrea Saccardo and Domenico Saccardo in 1906; Taphrina carveri named by Anna Eliza Jenkins in 1939; and Pestalotia carveri, named by E. F. Guba in 1961.

Legacy

A movement to establish a U.S. national monument to Carver began before his death. Because of World War II, such non-war expenditures had been banned by presidential order. Missouri senator Harry S. Truman sponsored a bill in favor of a monument. In a committee hearing on the bill, one supporter said:

The bill is not simply a momentary pause on the part of busy men engaged in the conduct of the war, to do honor to one of the truly great Americans of this country, but it is in essence a blow against the Axis, it is in essence a war measure in the sense that it will further unleash and release the energies of roughly 15,000,000 Negro people in this country for full support of our war effort.

The bill passed unanimously in both houses. 

On July 14, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument west-southwest of Diamond, Missouri, the area where Carver had spent time in his childhood. This was the first national monument dedicated to an African American and the first to honor someone other than a president. The 210-acre (0.8 km²) national monument complex includes a bust of Carver, a ¾-mile nature trail, a museum, the 1881 Moses Carver house, and the Carver cemetery. The national monument opened in July 1953.

In December 1947, a fire broke out in the Carver Museum, and much of the collection was damaged. Time magazine reported that all but three of the 48 Carver paintings at the museum were destroyed. His best-known painting, displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, depicts a yucca and cactus. This canvas survived and has undergone conservation. It is displayed together with several of his other paintings.

1948 US postage stamp

Carver was featured on U.S. 1948 commemorative stamps. From 1951 to 1954, he was depicted on the commemorative Carver-Washington half dollar coin along with Booker T. Washington. A second stamp honoring Carver, of face value 32¢, was issued on 3 February 1998 as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series. Two ships, the Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver and the nuclear submarine USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656), were named in his honor.

In 1977, Carver was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. In 1990, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1994, Iowa State University awarded Carver a Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2000, Carver was a charter inductee in the USDA Hall of Heroes as the "Father of Chemurgy".

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed George Washington Carver as one of 100 Greatest African Americans.

In 2005, Carver's research at the Tuskegee Institute was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society. On February 15, 2005, an episode of Modern Marvels included scenes from within Iowa State University's Food Sciences Building and about Carver's work. In 2005, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri, opened a George Washington Carver garden in his honor, which includes a life-size statue of him.

Many institutions continue to honor George Washington Carver. Dozens of elementary schools and high schools are named after him. National Basketball Association star David Robinson and his wife, Valerie, founded an academy named after Carver; it opened on September 17, 2001, in San Antonio, Texas. The Carver Community Cultural Center, a historic center located in San Antonio, is named for him.

Reputed inventions

Carver was given credit in popular folklore for many inventions that did not come out of his lab. Three patents (one for cosmetics; US 1522176, issued January 6, 1925, and two for paints and stains; US 1541478, issued June 9, 1925 and US 1632365, issued June 14, 1927) were issued to Carver in 1925 to 1927; however, they were not commercially successful. Aside from these patents and some recipes for food, Carver left no records of formulae or procedures for making his products. He did not keep a laboratory notebook. Mackintosh notes that, "Carver did not explicitly claim that he had personally discovered all the peanut attributes and uses he cited, but he said nothing to prevent his audiences from drawing the inference." Carver's research was intended to produce replacements from common crops for commercial products, which were generally beyond the budget of the small one-horse farmer. A misconception grew that his research on products for subsistence farmers were developed by others commercially to change Southern agriculture. Carver's work to provide small farmers with resources for more independence from the cash economy foreshadowed the "appropriate technology" work of E. F. Schumacher.

Peanut products

Dennis Keeney, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, wrote in the Leopold Letter (newsletter):

Carver worked on improving soils, growing crops with low inputs, and using species that fixed nitrogen (hence, the work on the cowpea and the peanut). Carver wrote in 'The Need of Scientific Agriculture in the South': "The virgin fertility of our soils and the vast amount of unskilled labor have been more of a curse than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system for cultivation, the destruction of forest, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, have made our agricultural problem one requiring more brains than of the North, East or West."

Carver worked for years to create a company to market his products. The most important was the Carver Penol Company, which sold a mixture of creosote and peanuts as a patent medicine for respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis. Sales were lackluster and the product was ineffective according to the Food and Drug Administration. Other ventures were The Carver Products Company and the Carvoline Company. Carvoline Antiseptic Hair Dressing was a mix of peanut oil and lanolin. Carvoline Rubbing Oil was a peanut oil for massages. 

Carver is often mistakenly credited with the invention of peanut butter. By the time Carver published "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" in 1916, many methods of preparation of peanut butter had been developed or patented by various pharmacists, doctors and food scientists working in the US and Canada. The Aztec were known to have made peanut butter from ground peanuts as early as the 15th century. Canadian pharmacist Marcellus Gilmore Edson was awarded U.S. Patent 306,727 (for its manufacture) in 1884, 12 years before Carver began his work at Tuskegee.

Sweet potato products

Carver is also associated with developing sweet potato products. In his 1922 sweet potato bulletin, Carver listed a few dozen recipes, "many of which I have copied verbatim from Bulletin No. 129, U. S. Department of Agriculture". Carver's records included the following sweet potato products: 73 dyes, 17 wood fillers, 14 candies, 5 library pastes, 5 breakfast foods, 4 starches, 4 flours, and 3 molasses. He also had listings for vinegars, dry coffee and instant coffee, candy, after-dinner mints, orange drops, and lemon drops.

Carver bulletins

During his more than four decades at Tuskegee, Carver's official published work consisted mainly of 44 practical bulletins for farmers. His first bulletin in 1898 was on feeding acorns to farm animals. His final bulletin in 1943 was about the peanut. He also published six bulletins on sweet potatoes, five on cotton, and four on cowpeas. Some other individual bulletins dealt with alfalfa, wild plum, tomato, ornamental plants, corn, poultry, dairying, hogs, preserving meats in hot weather, and nature study in schools.

His most popular bulletin, How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, was first published in 1916 and was reprinted many times. It gave a short overview of peanut crop production and contained a list of recipes from other agricultural bulletins, cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers, such as the Peerless Cookbook, Good Housekeeping, and Berry's Fruit Recipes. Carver's was far from the first American agricultural bulletin devoted to peanuts, but his bulletins did seem to be more popular and widespread than previous ones.