Chef Boyardee was a real person who ran an Italian restaurant in America. How similar was the food in his restaurant to the canned pasta sold by his brand now?

In the words of the man himself "Italian food at the turn of the century wasn't what it is today," Boiardi tells NPR's Michele Norris. "All of the finer restaurants were French restaurants." Chef Boiardi's orignial resteraunt during the 1920's served simple, peasant style, home cooked, Italian immigrant food. The cans today are heavily proccesed and very different from both his original restaraunts food and the canned food Chef Boiardi sold to resteraunt patrons, grocers, and the U.S milliatary as rations for the armed forces. "The family chose to place their factory in Milton, Pa., so that they would be close to their tomato supply. "They had to convince people to change their crops so that they would have enough tomatoes," Boiardi says. "At the height, when they were there [in Milton], they were producing about 250,000 cans a day." The family also grew their own mushrooms in the Milton plant."

His resteraunt served peasant fare using fresh or canned tomatos, pasta, herbs and seasonings to prepare a simple pasta and sauce served with parmesan cheese. Pasta is a high profit margin product, which is what helped draw him into the business. Canned tomatoes may have been used in the off season, or at different stages in the evolution of the bussiness as canned foods were available at the time.

"Chef Boiardi's Restaurant in Cleveland was a success, and customers expressed interest in learning how to make Italian dishes at home. So the Boiardis started sending people home with pasta, sauce and cheese and teaching them how to cook, heat and assemble the dishes themselves. That's what got the family thinking: " 'What if we started jarring our sauce and selling it? Would it sell?' " Boiardi says. "That was really this germ of an idea ... that eventually turned into Chef Boyardee."

The cans today are heavily processed and very different from the original restaraunt. This is an example basic fresh marinara sauce using whole ingredients only.

1 Tbsp olive oil. 3 cloves garlic minced. 5 fresh tomatoes diced. 2 Tbsp fresh basil finely chopped. 1 Tbsp honey. 1/2 tsp salt. 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. 3 sprigs of parsley.

Veal was popular with Italian immigrants of the time. Most likely some combination of veal, pork, and or beef was used to make a meat sauce with mushrooms. As well as marinara, macaroni and cheese gratin was another popular dish among Italian immigrants. Chef Boiardi sourced premium ingredients from Italy "At the time, when they started Chef Boyardee [in] 1928, they were the largest importers of Parmesan cheese from Italy," Boiardi explains. "They also brought in tons of olive oil."

Here are the ingredients for the modern day spaghetti and meatballs from Chef Boyardee.

Tomatoes (Tomato Puree, Water), Cooked Enriched Spaghetti (Water, Enriched Wheat Flour [Durum Wheat Semolina, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid], Wheat Protein Isolate [Wheat Gluten, Sodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid], Glyceryl Monostearate), Meatballs (Pork, Dark Chicken, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef, Water, Crackermeal [Enriched Wheat Flour {Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid}, May Contain Guar Gum], Soy Protein Concentrate, Salt, Caramel Color, Flavorings, Soybean Oil, Citric Acid), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Less Than 2% Of: Modified Corn Starch, Salt, Dehydrated Onion, Hydrolyzed Corn And Wheat Gluten And Soy Protein, Citric Acid, Flavorings, Enzyme Modified Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Sodium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum).

It's interesting that olive oil is not an ingredient in modern day Chef Boyardee. Soybean oil is used instead.

High fructose corn syrup was introduced in the 1970s as an example. Many of the processes and ingredients necessary to make modern day Chef Boyardee simply weren't available at the time.

Interview with grandniece from National geoghraphic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeGiim6Bv0I

https://www.npr.org/2011/05/17/136398042/the-man-the-can-recipes-of-the-real-chef-boyardee

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/05/04/how-italian-cuisine-became-as-american-as-apple-pie/

High fructose corn syrup what is and what it isnt The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 88, Issue 6, 1 December 2008 https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/88/6/1716S/4617107

Modern day chef borardee spaghetti and meatballs ingredients http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Chef-Boyardee/Spaghetti-And-Meatballs/14-50-oz/064144043224/