Sometimes it's neither art nor science that serves as the origins of the everyday kitchen and food items we take for granted today. Sometimes, as Josh Chetwynd shows us, some of our greatest culinary achievements were simply by-products of "damned good luck." Within these pages you will discover the beginnings of kitchen inventions, products, and foodstuff in short essays that dispel popular myths and draw lines between food facts and food fiction, from the serendipitous creation of Granny Smith apples through open pollination to the Caesar salad's Mexican roots and more.