For more than 133 years, Coca-Cola has been a source of refreshment - and pride - in the South, so much so that many Southerners refer to all forms of soda pop as simply Coke.
"Do you want a Coke? What flavor?" is a common exchange around here that has befuddled visitors, mostly of the Northern persuasion, for decades.
This year marks the 120th anniversary of the world's first Coca-Cola bottling company opening here in Chattanooga.
"Chattanooga Coca-Cola, its employees and this community have an indelible and enviable place in history as the first bottler of one of the world's most iconic brands," said John Sherman, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, the Birmingham-based company that purchased the Chattanooga franchise back in 1924. "Inside every bottle of Coca-Cola throughout the world, there's a little bit of Chattanooga."
We all know it's good served ice cold by itself, or with a little Kentucky bourbon, but it can also be used as an ingredient in everything from cake to chicken on the grill or in a crock pot. In fact, there are several recipes for utilizing Coca-Cola on the coca-colacompany.com website, with several just for the slow cooker.
"Put any meat with Coke in the Crock-Pot. Good stuff," says local cook Julie Wise Lane.
Cracker Barrel serves a Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake, the result of a "happy accident" in the development phase that increased the amount of cocoa. The cakes are made daily by hand and served with vanilla ice cream. The recipe remains a secret. / Photo from Cracker Barrel Old Country StoreNoogaRadio on-air personality Jen Lambert recommends Coca-Cola short ribs in the slow cooker. "Melt-in-your-mouth yummy. Throw in a little ginger and garlic, cover in cola, brown the ribs and set on low. Six hours."
Mary Anne Williams is fond of a dish her mother, Margaret Kiser, used to make by baking "a ham with 'Co-Cola' poured over the ham, with the whole business on a rack and sealed in a heavy grocery paper bag (the only option for groceries in the late '60s-early '70s) in a pan to catch the juices. It was amazing."
"The leftover odd pieces and bits became ham fried rice, which was almost as good as the ham itself."
Perhaps most associated with the drink is Coca-Cola Cake, which incorporates Coca-Cola in the moist and rich sheet cake and the sugary frosting. A version of the cake is served at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants, though its ingredients list varies from the original. According to the Coca-Cola website, Cracker Barrel had commissioned an outside company to create "speed scratch" recipes for use in the restaurant kitchens. What they came up was a darker, richer, denser incarnation, the result of a mathematical error when scaling up the recipe.
"The error they made was so delicious that we didn't want to change a thing," said Susan Gillituk, senior manager of product development at Cracker Barrel. The recipe remains a protected secret, but it does include real Coke - not Coke syrup - poured from 2-liter bottles.
The recipe remains a protected secret, but it does include real Coke - not Coke syrup - poured from 2-liter bottles, according to the website.
SWEET ORIGINS
Coca-Cola was created in 1886 when Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John S. Pemberton concocted a flavored syrup in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard. It was originally sold only at soda fountains, where soda water and the syrup were combined.
Chattanooga businessmen Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead ventured down to Atlanta in 1899 to meet with Asa Candler, who had purchased the Coca-Cola Co. seven years earlier, and the pair pitched the idea of bottling Coke. Candler famously thought the idea was doomed to fail, but he agreed to give the bottling rights to the Chattanooga entrepreneurs for $1, according to an earlier Times Free Press article.
With the support of colleague John T. Lupton, Thomas and Whitehead opened the world's first Coca-Cola Bottling Co. at 17 Market St. in downtown Chattanooga, where Patten Parkway now stands. At its current location at 4000 Amnicola Highway, the company now produces about 36 million cases of drinks a year.
Today, there are more than 750 Coca-Cola employees working out of the Chattanooga-based Tennessee Valley Division for Coca-Cola United. There are five locations in the greater Chattanooga area, including two manufacturing facilities (on Amnicola Highway and in Cleveland, Tennessee); a sales and distribution center (on West Shepherd Road); and two warehouses (on Wisdom Street and Stuart Street).
"Our entire Coca-Cola family celebrates with Coca-Cola Chattanooga as it marks its 120th birthday," said Jim Dinkins, president of Coca-Cola North America. "As the first Coca-Cola bottler, Coca-Cola Chattanooga will always be a special part of our heritage and will continue to be a thriving part of the local community, refreshing Chattanoogans for years to come."
Coca-Cola Cake
Here's the Coca-Cola company's recipe for Coca-Cola Cake. The iconic sheet cake comes out chocolatey, moist and delicious. Find more recipes at www.coca-colacompany.com/food.
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes (30 minutes prep, 45 minutes cook time)
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Coca-Cola
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift the sugar and flour. Add marshmallows. In a saucepan, mix the butter, oil, cocoa and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil, and pour over dry ingredients; blend well. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter, along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well. Pour into a well-greased 9- by-13-inch pan, and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.
Coca-Cola Cake Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box (16-ounces) confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and pour over confectioners sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.
- Source: This recipe was contributed by Lee Avery Catts to "Atlanta Cooknotes" and was published by The Junior League of Atlanta. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/recipes-cola-cake
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.