The Sandwich
John Montague, the 4^th Earl of Sandwich, was a prodigious gambler. The Earl allegedly invented the sandwich when, in the midst of a card-playing marathon, he requested a meal of salted beef served between two pieces of rye toast so as not to interrupt his game. The Earl of Sandwich simultaneously coined the phrase “Oh, I said no mustard”.

The Open Faced Sandwich
Charles Robertson, the 3^rd Earl of Open Faced Sandwich, was both a prodigious gambler and the first proponent of the Atkins diet.

Soup
Ambrosio de Soup, the 15^th Duke of Soup, was at a restaurant one day eating a piping hot salted beef sandwich when he burnt his tongue on an especially warm spot. He devised a meal that consisted of a bowl of hot water with pieces of meat and vegetables floating in it, reasoning that since the dish would be of uniform temperature no one would burn their tongue on it. Boy was he mixed up.

Pizza
Giodorni Pizza had a beautiful young daughter, Francesca, who had many suitors. Of all the suitors, Pizza liked one the best: Roberto. One evening Pizza called Roberto to his study. “Roberto,” he said, “I want you to have my daughter’s hand in marriage. However the powerful Count Panini has his heart set on Francesca as well. If I were to deny him his request he would mobilize the whole of Italy against my family and we would be ruined. If you truly love my daughter you must kill Count Panini.”

Though Roberto had never once lifted his hand in anger he agreed. He ambushed the Count in his palace’s courtyard. Dropping to his knees in fear, the Count promised Roberto twenty thousand lire and his own place on the coast if he spared his life. However Roberto was not convinced and ran the Count through with his rapier. Such is the power of love.

When Roberto returned to the Pizza palace, he found that he had been betrayed: Francesca had been married to another suitor. Pizza had cruelly used Roberto to eliminate a powerful rival! Despondent, Roberto took his own life by jumping from the cliff atop which he and Francesca had once watched the sunset.

As for Giodorni, he invented the pizza two years later and had a long, prosperous life.

Spaghetti
This was invented by the Chinese who were sick of the only Italian food being pizza.