Sunday, August 30, 2026

Question: In 1958, a San Francisco pasta family boxed up a quick version of an Armenian neighbor’s rice pilaf recipe, creating a side dish that became a grocery-store staple. What is that product?

Answer: Rice-A-Roni. In the 1940s, Lois DeDomenico learned to make pilaf from her San Francisco landlady, an Armenian genocide survivor. Her brother-in-law Vince, of the Golden Grain Macaroni Company, helped adapt the dish into a packaged rice-and-pasta mix that debuted in 1958 and became famous as “The San Francisco Treat.”