Clifford’s Big Idea for the Day: Sit Down & Shut Up

Today I had to wonder about Chef Boyardee. Lilly requested canned ravioli for lunch, and I obliged her with (part of) the contents of a 15 oz. can of his OVERSTUFFED beef ravioli. There he was, same as ever, with the chef’s hat, gray mustache and slightly intoxicated grin, as he has been since time immemorial, or at least since I can remember.

But who was he? I’ve reached age 45 and yet I’ve never considered the question. An invention to sell food like Aunt Jemima, or a human being and chef who gave the world mass-produced mediocre ravioli?

This is just the kind of thing that Wikipedia was invented for, so I looked up the chef in that editorless wonder of a sort of encyclopedia. Which only demonstrated the broadness of my ignorance on things large and small. Not only was he an actual human being, he died only in 1985. Must have missed the obit.

He’s a ConAgra brand now. Wikipedia mentions that, but confirmed it by looking on the can.