The choices of food are plenty. We are blessed because Jamaica is not facing a famine. With the abundance of cauliflower, mangoes, otaheiti apples, breadfruit and oranges at this time, no one should go hungry.

However, as you try to satisfy your tastes, you may make choices from foods that are bad for your health. Junk foods are addictive and their outlets are usually located where the smell is sure to stimulate your taste buds when you feel like having a snack.

For Ruth, nothing is more comforting to her on her way home each evening than a juicy hamburger. The name hamburger is misleading as a commonly asked question is why is it called a hamburger, when there is no ham in it? The answer is that the hamburger originated in Hamburg, Germany.

Drive-in restaurants

It was the nomadic people, the Tartars, who made the hamburger popular. The Tartars founded the world's oldest chain of hamburger restaurants in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. After World War II, the hamburger became very popular in the United States as the main menu item at drive-in restaurants which increased as cars became more popular.

McDonald's, which started as a hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California, has spread the hamburger around the world. The world's largest restaurant chain, with more than 26,000 restaurants in 119 countries, has served billions of hamburgers.

French fries

A popular accompaniment for the hamburger is French fries. Although French fries are quite common in restaurants in France, where they are called pommes frites, the debate is whether the culinary term has anything to do with France or if French fries originated in America.

One opinion for the origin of French fries is that in cooking terminology, frenching means to cut food in lengthwise strips. This is why you have French-cut green beans and it is the same thing with French fries made from potatoes.

The other opinion is that Thomas Jefferson brought the fried potato to America after enjoying the dish in Paris. While there is no dispute that the French fry is an American invention, those that hold with this opinion believe that the French fry was named after the country where Jefferson found fried potatoes.

Salted fries

During the early 19th century, fried potatoes steadily gained in popularity and became a common menu item at restaurants across the United States. It is rumoured that Cornelius Vanderbilt, in 1853, ordered fried potatoes with his meal from a popular diner in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is said that Vanderbilt sent the potatoes back to the kitchen with a complaint that they were not crispy enough.

The chef, though furious with the criticism, refried the potatoes after slicing them paper-thin and salting them heavily. Ironically, the refried and salted potatoes were thoroughly enjoyed by the patron.

This gave rise to the popular Saratoga Chips, after the owner of the restaurant made fried potato chips a regular menu item and it later became a staple at restaurants across the country. During the early 1900s, potato chips were mass-produced in large factories, including Wise Delicatessen Company with Wise Potato Chips; Lay's in 1938 started selling Lay's Brand Potato Chips.

Today, potato chips are America's favourite snack food and come in a number of varieties. Modern factories mass-produce the chips using deep-fat frying or quick flash-frying. Some chips are made from reconstituted potato flakes instead of raw potato. Perhaps nothing is more 'American' than the potato chip which is more than 150 years old.

Hot dog

Also originating in Germany in 1852 was the hot dog, in a place called Frankfurt and so the hot dog was named frankfurter. From what are hot dogs made? A frankfurter is a sausage. Frankfurters are made by hundreds of companies worldwide and each company has its own secret ingredients. In general, however, hot dogs contain meat fat, 'cereal filler' (breadcrumbs, oatmeal or flour); a little egg white, spices (onion, garlic, salt, pepper, etc.)

These ingredients are blended in a meat grinder or a food processor and then stuffed into synthetic collagen casings. Home-made sausages use natural casings. After the hot dogs are stuffed, they are pre-cooked by boiling them in water for 15 minutes. Then they are refrigerated or frozen. Hot dogs are usually pre-cooked so when you are ready to use, it only needs to be boiled, microwaved, fried or grilled.

Cereal fillers

Home-made sausages are tasty as the ingredients can be tweaked for the 'home goodness' taste. Home-made sausages usually leave out the additives in the form of preservatives, colouring and sodium nitrate. Ma Marshall created a recipe that that contained 1.5lb of pork, 0.75lb of pork fat, 0.25 cups of breadcrumbs, an egg white, a little water, salt, pepper, onion and garlic to taste.

Cereal fillers are sometimes omitted from the commercial brands and the labels will read 'no cereal fillers'. Cereal fillers received bad rap because some unscrupulous manufacturers were using more filler than meat.

Fried chicken served with chips and tomato ketchup has become a popular family meal. What is the origin of fried chicken? There are different theories. The Encyclopaedia of Food and Drink traces fried chicken to Scotland while The New Encyclopaedia of Southern Culture credits its roots to African cooking techniques.

Southern fried chicken

Its association with the southern United States stems from fried chicken being prominent in plantation cooking early on.

The first recipe appeared in 1824 as a delicacy. It became popular among wives of the South as touted in The Atlanta Constitution, 'Fried Chicken: How the wives can tickle their husbands into good humour'.

Fried chicken is 'battered' in some combination of egg wash, flour, and/or breadcrumbs after which the pieces are crisply fried. The chicken pieces in batter are fried in shortening over medium-high heat until browned on both sides.

In other versions, the heat is lowered and the chicken covered and left to cook for 25 minutes. Later, the lid is removed and the heat increased to medium-high. Frying continues until chicken pieces are a deep golden brown, and the juices run clear.

Other reported versions of frying include a fried chicken leg with ham and hush puppies (a batter made with flour, egg, oil, and milk or water, to which corn is added, and then deep-fried) and breadcrumbed and fried chicken wings and drumsticks with sautéed bananas.

With the popularity of junk foods, they may be here to stay. Over time, we hope for healthier versions that would reduce the fats and sodium to prevent lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and cancers.

Heather Little-White, PhD, is a nutrition and lifestyle consultant in the Corporate Area. Send comments to editor@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.