National Peanut Butter Day

24 January is National Peanut Butter Day, a day created to allow peanut butter lovers to celebrate the creation of this wonderful food.

Who doesn’t love peanut butter? Creamy or chunky, with chocolate or with jam or syrup, it has been a staple food for many generations. Peanut butter can be eaten and used in many different recipes, or, if you like, you can indulge in a jar of this creamy (or crunchy) delight with a spoon.

Around 1000 BC, the Aztecs and Incas began making peanut butter, but is was more of a paste and not nearly as creamy as the peanut butter we know today. Until the 20th century peanut butter was not widely used at all, as it was seen mainly as animal feed – which it was until the late 1800s. At the turn of the century, inventions that made planting, cultivating and harvesting the legume (as a peanut is not a nut) made it possible to see the peanut as a retail and wholesale food item.

Four men need to be thanked for the inventions and processes that brought us the creamy, smooth peanut butter we enjoy today: Marcus Gilmore Edson of Canada, Dr John Harvey Kellog, Dr Ambrose Straub of St. Louis and chemist Joseph Rosefield. In 1884, Edson developed a process to make peanut paste by milling roasted peanuts between two heated plates. The famous cereal maker and health food specialist of the time – Kellogg – patented a process with raw peanuts in 1895. Dr Straub patented a peanut butter-making machine in 1903 and in 1904 the Universal Exposition in St. Louis introduced peanut butter to audiences through C.H. Sumner’s concession stand.

But the man who brought us the spread we know and love today was Joseph Rosefield, who, in 1922, used homogenisation to keep the peanut oil from separating from the peanut solids. He later sold the patent to a company that started making Peter Pan peanut butter. He went into business for himself selling Skippy peanut butter through Rosefield Packing. He also supplied peanut butter for military rations during World War II.

Peanut butter is a good source of vitamin E, B6, niacin, calcium, potassium and iron and is packed with protein. It is also rich in healthy non-saturated fat. So, to celebrate today, get together with friends and family and create delicious recipes using peanut butter – from cookies and cakes to sautés and sauces. These snacks can either be enjoyed at home, or you can make a day of it and go on a picnic style outing. You can also decide to eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches for the day.

Use #NationalPeanutButterDay to post on social media.

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites Randfontein Herald, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine

Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!