Morrie Yohai
Encyclopedia
Morrie Robert Yohai was an American food company executive best known for his creation of Cheez Doodles
, a cylindrical baked cornmeal
puff most often with a cheddar cheese
flavor.
Yohai was born on March 4, 1920 in Harlem
to Jewish immigrants from Turkey
and grew up in the Bronx. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
. He worked for Grumman Aircraft after graduating from college and enlisted in the United States Navy
during World War II
. He pursued flight training, assuming that since he knew how to build planes he would know how to fly them. He was shifted to the United States Marine Corps
and piloted planes in the South Pacific.
Yohai was the president of Old London Foods
, a food products company originally established in the 1920s by his father (and his cousin) as King Kone. The company had manufactured ice cream cones and would later produce cheese crackers, popcorn and Melba toast
. The company was looking for a new snack in the 1950s and had a machine that could extrude
cornmeal
under pressure through a narrow hole that would be cut to three-inch lengths by a blade. Baked with orange cheddar cheese
and flavorings, Yohai gave them the name "Cheez Doodles
". The name came to him while he sat around the table with other employees sampling different alternatives for the cheese flavoring. In 1965, the company was bought out by Borden
, which also made Cracker Jack
and Drake's
cakes. In April 1967, Yohai was named as group vice president at Borden Foods and as chairman of the firm's Old London Foods and Wise Potato Chips divisions. Yohai recalled that one of his responsibilities involved making decisions as to which tiny toys would be included as prizes in packages of Cracker Jack.
Yohai was proud of his association with Cheez Doodles, and fondly retained a photograph of Julia Child
eating from a bag. Attending a 2004 display of a work by Sandy Skoglund
at a Napa Valley museum depicting several life-size figures covered in Cheez Doodles, his wife proudly told the gathered guests that her husband had invented the product.
Yohai left Borden after the company relocated to Columbus, Ohio
. He started teaching at the New York Institute of Technology
and was chosen to serve as the associate dean of the college's school of management. In his later years Yohai became involved with Jewish mysticism and Torah study
. An author of two books and 500 poems, he was one of the founders of the annual New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.
A resident of Kings Point, New York
, he lived in a luxurious home on Long Island Sound
, which his wife would call "the house that Cheez Doodles bought". He died at age 90 at his home there on July 27, 2010, due to cancer. He was survived by his wife, the former Phyllis Marcus who he had married in 1947, as well as by a daughter, a son and a granddaughter.
Cheez Doodles
Cheez Doodles are a cheese-flavored cheese puff produced by Wise Foods, Inc. which are similar to Frito-Lay's Cheetos. They debuted several years after Frito-Lay's snack in the 1950s. Originally developed and manufactured by King Kone Corp. of the Bronx , it became the prevalent cheese puff snack...
, a cylindrical baked cornmeal
Cornmeal
Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize or American corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies. In the United States, the finely ground cornmeal is also referred to as cornflour. However, the word cornflour denotes cornstarch in recipes from the...
puff most often with a cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
flavor.
Yohai was born on March 4, 1920 in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
to Jewish immigrants from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and grew up in the Bronx. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
. He worked for Grumman Aircraft after graduating from college and enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He pursued flight training, assuming that since he knew how to build planes he would know how to fly them. He was shifted to the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and piloted planes in the South Pacific.
Yohai was the president of Old London Foods
Old London Foods
Old London Foods is a company that is best known for its Melba toast products, that is a subsidiary of Nonni's Food. Originally based in the Bronx and called the King Kone Corporation, the company changed its name to Old London Foods, Inc., in May 1960 to match their best-known brand of food...
, a food products company originally established in the 1920s by his father (and his cousin) as King Kone. The company had manufactured ice cream cones and would later produce cheese crackers, popcorn and Melba toast
Melba toast
Melba toast is a very dry, crisp and thinly sliced toast often served with soup and salad or topped with either melted cheese or pâté. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. Its name is thought to date from 1897, when the singer was...
. The company was looking for a new snack in the 1950s and had a machine that could extrude
Extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...
cornmeal
Cornmeal
Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize or American corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies. In the United States, the finely ground cornmeal is also referred to as cornflour. However, the word cornflour denotes cornstarch in recipes from the...
under pressure through a narrow hole that would be cut to three-inch lengths by a blade. Baked with orange cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
and flavorings, Yohai gave them the name "Cheez Doodles
Cheez Doodles
Cheez Doodles are a cheese-flavored cheese puff produced by Wise Foods, Inc. which are similar to Frito-Lay's Cheetos. They debuted several years after Frito-Lay's snack in the 1950s. Originally developed and manufactured by King Kone Corp. of the Bronx , it became the prevalent cheese puff snack...
". The name came to him while he sat around the table with other employees sampling different alternatives for the cheese flavoring. In 1965, the company was bought out by Borden
Borden (company)
Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in Columbus, Ohio, and focused primarily on pasta and...
, which also made Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
and Drake's
Drake's
Drake's is a baking company in Wayne, New Jersey, United States, owned by Hostess Brands, which makes snack cakes such as Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and coffee cake. Their mascot is a smiling duck wearing a chef's hat and neckerchief holding a...
cakes. In April 1967, Yohai was named as group vice president at Borden Foods and as chairman of the firm's Old London Foods and Wise Potato Chips divisions. Yohai recalled that one of his responsibilities involved making decisions as to which tiny toys would be included as prizes in packages of Cracker Jack.
Yohai was proud of his association with Cheez Doodles, and fondly retained a photograph of Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
eating from a bag. Attending a 2004 display of a work by Sandy Skoglund
Sandy Skoglund
Sandy Skoglund is an American photographer and installation artist.Skoglund creates surrealist images by building elaborate sets or tableaux, furnishing them with carefully selected small children and other objects, a process of which takes her months to complete. Finally, she photographs the set,...
at a Napa Valley museum depicting several life-size figures covered in Cheez Doodles, his wife proudly told the gathered guests that her husband had invented the product.
Yohai left Borden after the company relocated to Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. He started teaching at the New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...
and was chosen to serve as the associate dean of the college's school of management. In his later years Yohai became involved with Jewish mysticism and Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
. An author of two books and 500 poems, he was one of the founders of the annual New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.
A resident of Kings Point, New York
Kings Point, New York
Kings Point is a village and a part of Great Neck in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 5,005.The Village of Kings Point is in the Town of North Hempstead...
, he lived in a luxurious home on Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, which his wife would call "the house that Cheez Doodles bought". He died at age 90 at his home there on July 27, 2010, due to cancer. He was survived by his wife, the former Phyllis Marcus who he had married in 1947, as well as by a daughter, a son and a granddaughter.
