Plenty of people study Michelangelo’s art. But not enough are asking the most important question about the man behind it—namely, what would he bring to a potluck?
Hidden in this word search are the names of 12 heavy hitters from across history. The first three you spot are automatically invited to your next hypothetical dinner party, and we’ve taken the liberty of imagining what dishes they’d show up with.
You can learn more about why we chose each dish below the game, and you’ll find the answer key on the following page.
Note: The names are hidden forward or backward in any direction (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).
1. Abraham Lincoln // Spiced Crabapples
Honest Abe was a big fan of apples, which Mary Todd Lincoln made sure to have on hand. He reportedly favored spiced crabapples—boiled in vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and mace—as a side dish.
2. Andy Warhol // Chocolate Sandwiches
Andy Warhol did love eating Campbell’s soup, but his heart really belonged to sweets. The artist’s sandwich of choice involved slapping some chocolate between two pieces of bread, which he called “cake.”
3. Charles Darwin // Roasted Armadillo
The famed naturalist was fond of sampling species he came across during his travels, and roasted armadillo went over particularly well at an 1832 meal in Argentina. Darwin said it looked and tasted like duck.
4. Frida Kahlo // Oaxacan Black Mole
Frida Kahlo threw legendary dinner parties with husband Diego Rivera at their house in Mexico City, so it’s no surprise that their wedding menu was impressive. One showstopper was Oaxacan black mole, a spicy sauce made with chocolate and three different types of chiles (plus a couple dozen other ingredients).
5. Harriet Tubman // Cornbread With Salt Pork
Civil rights activist Vivian Carter Mason, who grew up near Harriet Tubman, shared the recipe for “Our ‘Aunt Harriet’s’ Favorite Dish” in 1958’s Historical Cookbook of the American Negro. It’s brown sugar–sweetened cornbread peppered with chunks of fried salt pork. For best results, “butter generously.”
6. Helen Keller // Hot Dogs
In later life, Helen Keller loved hitting up a local hot dog stand with her companion Winifred Corbally. “Miss Helen was a rogue … We had oodles of fun,” Corbally recalled. “‘Don’t forget the mustard,’ she would say.”
7. Jane Austen // Toasted Cheese
The Pride and Prejudice author’s go-to cheese toastie—the British version of grilled cheese—featured grated cheese mixed with an egg, a teaspoon of mustard, and some butter.
8. Josephine Baker // Spaghetti Bolognese
Josephine Baker’s preferred post-performance meal was spaghetti Bolognese—heavy on the cayenne—and a beer. The pasta dish is a menu mainstay at Manhattan’s Chez Josephine, the French bistro founded by Baker’s unofficially adopted son in 1986.
9. J. Robert Oppenheimer // Gin Martinis
According to Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oppie served his popular martinis—“four ounces of gin and a dash of vermouth”—in chilled glasses rimmed with honey and lime juice.
10. Michelangelo // Fennel Soup
The Renaissance artist included two fennel soups (“due minestre di finocchio”) on a 1518 grocery list, along with herring, bread, wine, a ravioli-like pasta called tortelli, and other items. Michelangelo sketched everything out beside the text, perhaps to aid an illiterate servant at the store.
11. Queen Victoria // Cranberry Tart
Queen Victoria adored desserts of all kinds, from chocolate sponge cake to almond candies. According to one palace employee, “a cranberry tart with cream” ranked especially high.
12. Sylvia Plath // Banana Bread
Sylvia Plath was an avid baker, often whipping up elaborate dishes and penning now-iconic poems on the same day. Banana bread was a household favorite; she and husband Ted Hughes enjoyed it with tea.
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