This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue here with our American stories.

And this next story comes from a listener in Los Angeles, Joe Garibati.

And before there was a kin, there was this man and Greg Hangler is about to bring us the story of Chef Boyardee,

whom Joe told us in his email, putting us on to this this great story that he last saw Chef Boyardee

at his own grandmother's funeral back in Cleveland in the 1960s.

Here's Greg with the story of Chef Boyardee.

Chef Boyardee is one of the most familiar figures in the supermarket aisles, but you may be

surprised to know that the smiling mustache-led character in the white apron and towering

chef's hat wasn't some corporate marketing concoction like Betty Crocker,

Aunt Jemima, and Uncle Ben. The man who graces cans of beef errone and spaghetti and meatballs,

Hector Boyardy, was a real person, and yes, that's his real pitcher. Here he is in a

1953 television commercial.

Hello, may I come in? I am Chab Boyardy. Perhaps I've seen my picture on

Shab Boyardy products at two grocers. Born in 1897 in the northern Italian region of Piazienza,

Boiardi supposedly used a wire whisk for a rattle, and by the age of 11,

was working as an apprentice chef at a local hotel. In 1914, 16-year-old Boiarty set sail for a new

life, with better opportunities in America and arrived at Ellis Island.

He entered the kitchen at New York City's prestigious Plaza Hotel,

where his older brother Paul was a Mater D,

and within a year at just 17 years of age,

he assumed the position of head chef.

...