Brooklyn Food Heritage
Brooklyn's food story is America's food story—wave after wave of immigrants bringing culinary traditions, adapting to new ingredients, and creating something entirely fresh. From Dutch settlers to today's artisanal makers, the borough's kitchens have always been laboratories of innovation.
By Timothy Kavarnos, Founder | Salamander Sauce Company
Quick Answer
Brooklyn's food heritage spans nearly 400 years, from Dutch colonial farms through waves of immigrant communities (Italian, Jewish, Caribbean, Chinese, and dozens more) to today's craft food renaissance. Each generation built on the last, creating the diverse, innovation-driven food scene that defines modern Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Food Heritage Story
What makes Brooklyn's food scene unique isn't just diversity—it's the continuous thread of innovation and adaptation. Every immigrant wave didn't just preserve their traditions; they evolved them, creating new flavors and techniques that became part of Brooklyn's DNA. Today's craft food makers, like the artisanal hot sauce companies founded in Brooklyn, continue this centuries-old tradition of culinary innovation.
The Foundation: Dutch Roots and Early Innovation (1600s-1800s)
New Amsterdam's Culinary Beginning
Brooklyn's food story begins with the Dutch West India Company and the agricultural settlement of Breuckelen. The Dutch brought European farming techniques but quickly adapted to New World ingredients—corn from Native Americans, abundant seafood from the harbor, and wild game from the vast forests.
Innovation: The Dutch created some of America's first fusion cuisine, combining European techniques with indigenous ingredients. Their emphasis on preserved foods—cheeses, pickled vegetables, smoked meats—established Brooklyn's early reputation for quality food production.
The settlement patterns they established—small farms radiating from the waterfront—would later become the neighborhood structure that defined Brooklyn's ethnic food enclaves.
The Great Waves: Immigration and Culinary Revolution (1840s-1920s)
1840s-1880s: Irish and German Foundations
Irish immigrants brought hearty stews and baking traditions, while Germans established Brooklyn's legendary brewing industry and introduced the concept of beer gardens as community gathering spaces.
1880s-1920s: Italian Innovation
Southern Italian immigrants didn't just bring pasta—they revolutionized American eating. They adapted their recipes to available ingredients and American tastes, creating New York-style pizza, Italian-American sandwiches, and the corner bakery tradition.
1890s-1930s: Jewish Culinary Institutions
Eastern European Jews established the deli culture, perfected the bagel, and created the "appetizing" tradition. They also pioneered food distribution systems that connected Brooklyn to global ingredients.
Neighborhood Innovation: Borough Park to Sunset Park
What made Brooklyn special was how each neighborhood developed its own food identity while maintaining connections to others. Italian families in Bensonhurst traded techniques with Jewish bakers in Borough Park. Irish longshoremen in Red Hook discovered Chinese ingredients from sailors in the harbor.
This cross-pollination created uniquely Brooklyn innovations: the Italian-Jewish bakery, Irish-influenced corned beef, and eventually, fusion before fusion was a concept.
Brooklyn Inventions: Foods Born in the Borough
Iconic Creations
Brooklyn didn't just adapt existing foods—it invented entirely new ones:
The Hot Dog in a Bun (1860s): While German frankfurters existed, Charles Feltman in Coney Island first put them in a roll, creating the American hot dog. His innovation: making portable food for beach-goers and amusement park visitors.
The Egg Cream (1890s): Louis Auster's soda fountain creation contained neither eggs nor cream—just chocolate syrup, milk, and seltzer. A distinctly Brooklyn refreshment that became a symbol of neighborhood corner stores.
Sweet'N Low (1957): Invented by Benjamin Eisenstadt at his Brooklyn Navy Yard cafeteria, revolutionizing how Americans sweetened their food and drinks.
The pattern was always the same: practical innovation driven by local needs, using available ingredients, creating something entirely new.
Every immigrant wave didn't just preserve their traditions; they evolved them, creating new flavors and techniques that became part of Brooklyn's DNA.
Modern Waves: New Immigrant Communities (1960s-2000s)
The Brooklyn Horseshoe
The subway lines that curve through Brooklyn—nicknamed the "Brooklyn Horseshoe"—became arteries for new immigrant communities. Each brought their own food traditions and, true to Brooklyn form, began adapting and innovating.
"About half the borough's foreign-born population lives in neighborhoods along the Horseshoe, forming almost half of the population of these neighborhoods." —NYC Department of City Planning
Caribbean Influence: Jamaican and Haitian communities in Crown Heights and Flatbush introduced jerk seasonings, curry goat, and plantain preparations that influenced broader Brooklyn cuisine.
Chinese Evolution: Three distinct Chinatowns emerged—Manhattan's traditional Cantonese, Sunset Park's Fujianese, and Bensonhurst's mixed regional styles—each developing unique fusion approaches.
Middle Eastern and South Asian: Communities in Bay Ridge and Kensington brought halal traditions, spice knowledge, and techniques that began appearing in non-traditional contexts.
The Craft Renaissance: Brooklyn's New Food Innovation (2000s-Present)
From Industry to Artisan
As manufacturing left Brooklyn, something interesting happened. The same spaces that once housed large-scale food production—factories, warehouses, Navy Yard buildings—became home to small-batch, artisanal food makers.
This wasn't just gentrification. It was the continuation of Brooklyn's core food philosophy: innovation, quality, and adaptation to what people actually want to eat.
The New Brooklyn Food Identity
Today's Brooklyn food makers combine the borough's historical lessons:
- Quality over quantity (from European craft traditions)
- Innovation within tradition (from immigrant adaptation)
- Local ingredients, global techniques (from multicultural exchange)
- Community-focused production (from neighborhood-based food culture)
Continuing the Tradition: Modern Brooklyn Food Makers
The Salamander Sauce Story
When Salamander Sauce Company launched in Brooklyn, we weren't just starting a hot sauce business—we were continuing a 400-year tradition of culinary innovation. Our approach reflects classic Brooklyn food principles:
Innovation within tradition: We take the foundational concept of hot sauce but create three distinct flavor profiles—citrusy habanero heat, tropical fruit fusion, and whiskey-infused complexity—that reflect modern Brooklyn's global palate.
Quality ingredients, small-batch production: Like the Italian bakers who wouldn't compromise on their bread or the Jewish appetizing shops that sourced the finest fish, we prioritize ingredient quality over mass production. Created in Brooklyn and made in New York's Hudson Valley, we maintain artisanal standards. Understanding what makes a hot sauce artisanal or craft connects us to Brooklyn's centuries-old commitment to quality.
Community connection: Our sauces are designed for how Brooklynites actually eat—the Original for everyday breakfast and tacos, the Tropical for cocktails and Caribbean-inspired dishes, the Whiskey for Brooklyn's beloved BBQ culture.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard: Full Circle
The Brooklyn Navy Yard, where Sweet'N Low was invented, now houses Market @ 77—a food hall featuring artisanal producers making everything from bagels to craft beverages. It's a perfect symbol of Brooklyn's food evolution: industrial space transformed into community-focused food production.
Many of today's Brooklyn food makers share common traits with their immigrant predecessors:
- Starting small, often in repurposed industrial spaces
- Focusing on quality and technique over mass market appeal
- Creating products that reflect their community's actual tastes
- Building businesses that serve their neighborhoods first
What Makes Brooklyn Food Culture Unique
The Brooklyn Food Philosophy
After nearly four centuries of food innovation, certain principles define Brooklyn's approach:
Practical Food Innovation: Brooklyn culinary innovations solve real food problems and address community needs. Hot dogs in buns for Coney Island beach-goers and amusement park visitors. Egg creams for soda fountain economics and neighborhood corner stores. Low-sodium hot sauces for health-conscious eaters and dietary restrictions.
Cultural Food Fusion: Brooklyn food culture doesn't preserve culinary traditions in isolation—it allows food traditions to evolve through contact with other immigrant cultures, creating new hybrid food forms and fusion cuisine that becomes part of Brooklyn's expanding food identity.
Quality at Scale: Whether it's a 1900s bakery or a 2020s hot sauce company, Brooklyn producers figure out how to maintain artisanal quality while serving their communities. This philosophy is what makes Salamander different from mass-produced alternatives.
Neighborhood Identity: Brooklyn food culture remains intensely local, with producers understanding their immediate community's needs and tastes.
The Future of Brooklyn Food Heritage
Brooklyn's food scene continues evolving as new immigrant communities arrive and established ones adapt. West African restaurants in Flatbush, Uzbek bakeries in Sheepshead Bay, and Mexican taquerias in Sunset Park all represent the latest chapter in Brooklyn's food story.
What remains constant is the pattern: immigrants and innovators taking traditional techniques, adapting them to local ingredients and tastes, and creating something new that becomes part of Brooklyn's expanding food identity.
Today's craft food makers—from artisanal hot sauce companies to small-batch pickle makers to craft breweries—are simply the latest generation in this continuous tradition of culinary innovation.
Taste Brooklyn's Food Heritage Today
Experience how centuries of culinary innovation come together in every bottle.
Shop Salamander SauceAbout Timothy Kavarnos
Timothy founded Salamander Sauce after years working New York restaurants—front of house and kitchen, describing dishes, pairing wines, tasting with chefs, learning what makes people light up. That experience shaped his approach: sauce that works with food, not against it. Brooklyn-based, still tasting every batch.
Salamander Sauce Company. Born in Brooklyn, made in New York's Hudson Valley. All natural, low sodium, clean label.
