List of Foods Named After People - J

J

• Coquilles St. Jacques – the French term for scallops, and the Anglo-American term for the popular scallop dish with butter and garlic, owe their name to St. James the Great (died 44 AD), fisherman and first martyred apostle. His major shrine in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, drew pilgrims in quantity from all over Europe. The scallop's shell became an emblem of the pilgrimage as it was used as a water cup along the way, and sewn to the pilgrims' clothes like a badge. The scallop became an emblem of St. James, himself, although the timing is unclear. In Spanish, the scallop has "pilgrims" as part of its name, rather than Santiago.
• Jansson's Temptation – thought to be named after the Swedish opera singer Per Janzon (1844–1889).
• Apricots with rice à la Jefferson – Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third U.S. president, is honored appropriately with this Ranhofer dessert and with Jefferson rice, a recently developed strain of Texas rice. Jefferson was very interested in improving American rice culture, to which end he illegally smuggled Piedmont rice out of Italy. During his term as U.S. minister to France, Jefferson found the French preferred the qualities of Italian rice to Carolina rice. On a trip to see Rome, Jefferson stopped in Turin to collect a cache of seeds, and never reached Rome. The rice did reach the U.S.
• Jenny Lind melon, Jenny Lind Soup, Oysters and Ham Jenny Lind – Jenny Lind (1820–1887), the "Swedish Nightingale", was already a singing star in Europe when P. T. Barnum convinced her to tour the U.S. Her 1850 visit caused a sensation, and a number of foods were named in her honor.
• Jesse Fish orange – popular 18th-century orange grown by New Yorker Jesse Fish, a.k.a. Joseph Fish (died 1798) before the Revolutionary War on Anastasia Island in Florida.
• Jésus sausage – Jesus has small sausages of the French Basque and Savoy regions named after him. One version is called the Baby Jésus de Lyon.
• Trout, Joan of Arc – the French martyr Joan of Arc (1412–1431) is remembered in this dish by Charles Ranhofer.
• John Dory – the English name for a saltwater fish known elsewhere in Europe as Saint Peter's (San Pietro, Saint-Pierre, San Pedro) fish is said to be a reference to Saint Peter's role as "janitor" or doorkeeper at the gates of heaven. Legends claim that spots on the fish are either the fisherman apostle's fingerprints, or a reminder of the coin he found in the fish's mouth—a story from the Gospel of Luke.
• Docteur Jules Guyot pear – 19th-century French agronomist Dr. Jules Guyot, c. 1870. Guyot did work for Napoléon III in several agricultural fields.
• Flounder Jules Janin – Jules Gabriel Janin (1804–1874) was a somewhat eccentric 19th-century French dramatic critic. A good friend of Dumas and Berlioz, Janin wrote several novels; the best known is perhaps The Dead Donkey and the Guillotined Woman.
• Sole Jules Verne – Jules Verne (1828–1905), the French novelist, had several dishes named after him besides this, including a sauce, a garnish, grenades of turkey, breasts of partridge, and meat dishes.
• St. Julian plum – the fact that National Plum Pudding Day falls on the same day as that of Saint Julian the Hospitaller, February 12, may indicate the source of the name. Or not.