Rice-a-Roni, a commercial food product made from rice and vermicelli noodles, was created in San Francisco in 1955 by combining Italian and Armenian influences. It is now available in many different flavors and is marketed as an inexpensive side dish.
Rice-a-Roni, known to millions by its catchy tag “The San Francisco Treat,” is a commercial food product made from rice, vermicelli noodles, and many different flavoring agents. A combination of Italian and Armenian influences, the original dish is often credited with popularizing rice as a staple of the American diet. Rice-a-Roni comes in many different flavors and even makes concessions to the health food craze by promoting low-sodium varieties and brown rice.
The Rice-a-Roni story begins in the 19th century, when Italian immigrant Dominico DeDominico – better known as Charlie – moved to the Italian-friendly Mission District of San Francisco and opened a small produce stand. In 1912, DeDominico’s wife urged him to start a pasta factory and delivery service, which quickly became popular throughout the rapidly growing city near the bay. The business thrived for decades, and eventually DeDominico’s four sons joined him in the factory.
When Charlie’s son Tom DeDominico married a Canadian immigrant named Lois and the two moved into the home of an Armenian landlady, few could imagine that a famous food was soon to arrive. Mrs. Captanian, an Armenian Genocide survivor, soon began teaching Lois how to make traditional rice pilaf dishes, which Lois in turn introduced to her husband and in-laws. Charlie DeDominico’s genius sons decided to try combining rice with their popular vermicelli pasta, and in 1955, after months of trials, the first version of Rice-a-Roni was born. Rice-a-Roni began regional marketing in 1958 and became nationally available, and later iconic, four years later.
The original version of Rice-a-Roni® combined rice, noodle and chicken soup mix. There are now about 20 different versions of the canned side dish commercially available in a range of flavors. No longer owned by the DeDominico family, Rice-a-Roni was purchased by The Quaker Oats Company in the 1980s and has been a Pepsi-Co product since 2001. The food is often touted by proponents as an inexpensive means of providing a stuffing a side dish and helping more expensive dishes stretch to feed a large group.
With San Francisco’s reputation as a health and food-loving city, it may be surprising and questionable to some that a combination of carbs and spices in a box is marketed as “San Francisco’s Feast”. Indeed, Rice-a-Roni is representative of a long tradition of multiculturalism and fusion cuisine that has helped define San Francisco. A food created by combining Canadian, Armenian and Italian food sensibilities certainly qualifies as a proud icon of San Francisco.
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