Why “Have Pan”?

What might very well be the greatest advertising slogan ever created didn’t come from Madison Avenue. It wasn’t even real. But in four words it told a story so memorably that it tempted millions into wanting to learn more.

Sixty years ago Westerns occupied a much bigger space in television and the movies than they do today. Generally set during that vaguely timeless era somewhere after the Civil War and before the Twentieth Century, Western story lines had few options for gunslingers to market their services.

In 1957 a clever Hollywood writer thought up a tagline for a new Western’s protagonist to use as his advertising slogan. The motto captured the feel of the Wild West, conveyed the essence of the central character’s place in the world, and doubled as the title for what would become an enormously popular television series, “Have Gun, Will Travel.”

Cooking, to me, is an adventure. A recipe might have a slew of ingredients and a long series of prep steps. But recipes aren’t what makes a good cook. It’s cooking that makes a good cook. And the impetus to cook well can be as simple as having a pan, and wanting to use it.