Nostalgic as Hot Pockets might make you, do you really know anything about your favorite childhood snack aside from that earworm jingle? From its non-American roots, to the super-gross reason they were once recalled, and even a hack to heat them perfectly, here’s the untold truth of Hot Pockets.
You might think that Hot Pockets, with their calzone-like appearance and occasionally unorthodox pizza fillings, may have been invented by Italians or Italian-Americans, but you would be wrong. This oh-so-American staple, which has been gracing freezers for decades, was invented by two Iranian immigrants.
We wouldn’t have the many variations of Hot Pockets today had it not been for Jewish Iranian brothers Paul and David Merage, who immigrated to the United States from Tehran. In 1977, the Merage brothers founded Chef America Inc. and set out to create a portable sandwich with a dough that would actually retain its crispiness after being frozen, then warmed up in a few minutes in the microwave. Their creation, which debuted in 1980, was called the Tastywich, but it didn’t last long with its original name. By 1983, after some recipe tweaking, the Tastywich had a new moniker, and Hot Pockets officially hit the market.
Why don’t more people know this iconic snack’s true origins? For starters, Chef America was sold to Nestle in 2002, and most of us probably associate Hot Pockets with the company that owns other very American brands, like Gerber, Toll House, and Stouffer’s.
Watch the video for more of The Truth About Hot Pockets Finally Revealed!
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Invented by Immigrants | 0:15
Quality ingredients | 1:12
More recipe revamps | 2:04
Killed over Hot Pockets? | 2:53
Beat the heat | 3:48
The Hot Pockets diet | 4:44
Gross recall | 5:24
The heiress’ scandal | 6:06
That magical sleeve | 6:48
The temperature difference | 7:39
Jim Gaffigan’s jokes | 8:29
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