Dorcas Reilly, the inventor of the green beans pan, a favorite of Thanksgiving, has died at age 92 | Food and cooking



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It started with an appeal from the Associated Press and a question: What is the right recipe for a vegetable side dish that includes common pantry products?

In 1955, the AP, like other newspapers and magazines of the time, presented the simple appearance of Campbell's Soup. The question came with a caveat: the recipe was to be constructed from green beans and Campbell's cream soup of mushrooms, two products that most Americans regularly had at home in the fifties. .

The application was forwarded to the Campbell's Kitchen Soup Co. Co. in Camden, New Jersey, a branch of the company that focused on developing recipes for its products. . Dorcas Reilly, Supervisor of Campbell's Home Economics Department, was asked to lead her team to determine what could be done. The group will test and record the recipes several times. Only a perfect score would qualify him as ready to go. In November of the same year, Reilly and his team opted for what was to be called "green bean cake", an easily adaptable six-ingredient recipe: green beans, mushroom cream, milk, soy sauce, black pepper and fried onions that it takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.

"We worked in the kitchen with objects that could be found in most homes," she told NPR in 2015. "It's so easy, and it's not expensive. , as well."

When Campbell started putting Reilly's recipe on the boxes of mushroom cream in 1960, the popularity of this dish has reached new heights. It's been more than 60 years since the dish was invented, the bean casserole is a staple of Thanksgiving. It is estimated that over 20 million American households are expected to serve this year, according to Campbell's.

Throughout her life, Reilly, a star of gastronomy at a time when women were often sidelined in American companies, remained stunned by the success of a dish made from green beans and cream soup. mushrooms, which Campbell calls "the mother of all comfort foods".

"We all thought it was very nice, etc., and then, when we got the impressions from the consumer, we were pleasantly shocked," she said in a promotional video from Campbell for the dish. "I am very proud of that and I was shocked to see how popular it became."

Reilly, an influential innovator in the beloved comfort food field in the United States, died of Alzheimer's disease in Camden on Oct. 15. She was 92 years old. A visit and a celebration of his life will take place Saturday in Haddonfield, N.J.

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dorcas Reilly, creator of one of the most popular American recipes, the bean casserole," said Campbell in a statement, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Dorcas was an incredible woman whose legacy will continue for years, and we will miss her colleagues from Campbell and all those who are touched by her creativity and generous spirit."

Campbell Soup Co tweeted "Today, we remember Dorcas Reilly, Campbell's legendary employee and creator of the iconic Green Bean Casserole, who died earlier this week at the age of 92. His incredible legacy will be lived in more than 20 million American homes this Thanksgiving. "

Born July 22, 1926, Reilly was raised in Camden. She will become one of the first members of her family to attend college and will earn her Bachelor of Home Economics from the Drexel Institute of Technology, now known as Drexel University, in 1947. She traveled to Campbell in 1949, where she was one of two full-time employees developing recipes for the company's home economics department.

While the economy was booming in the 1950s, meals were easy to prepare, delicious and cheap. Reilly was successful with a pan of tuna noodles, a tomato cake and a sloppy Joe made from tomato soup.

"It was the team working together," Reilly said in his biography of college graduates. "I did not do it, we did it."

But things were different when it came to his most remarkable dish. According to Campbell, 40% of the cream of mushrooms sold in the United States is used to make Reilly green beans. And millions of Americans have adopted it as part of their Thanksgiving celebrations.

"Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of the Green Bean casserole," said Jane Freiman, director of Campbell's Consumer Test Kitchen, at "Today" in 2015 on NBC.

Reilly's cuisine reached new heights in 2002, when Campbell donated Reilly's original recipe card to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The yellow recipe card is found in the same place as Thomas Edison's light bulb and phonograph and as the first controlled nuclear reactor of Enrico Fermi.

His son, Thomas B. Reilly, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his mother was humble about his career and never spoke of this feat when he was growing up. This only began to manifest more when she was recognized as the inventor of the dish.

"I think she's been surprised," said her son to the Inquirer. "I think she was even more surprised to see how much it had become a big deal." She was not a brilliant person. She did not pamper herself under the lights She just went to do her work every day, like most blue-collar people. "

Although she is known for her work, Reilly had explained that "the food should be fun and the food should be happy". It was a mantra that she carried with her bringing a casserole of green beans to the Thanksgiving table. And millions would follow.

"I loved going to work every day," she told Drexel in 2009. "It was just another day of work." She added: "I hope you enjoy forever the bean casserole."

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