National Egg Roll Day
Today is National Egg Roll Day.
Most people order an egg roll or two as a side item.
For this photograph, I ordered eighteen.
At that point, the egg rolls stop being a side dish and become the entire meal. Several were cut open to reveal the filling while the rest were stacked into a pile and covered with sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard, and chili sauce.
The modern American egg roll is actually a Chinese-American creation rather than a traditional Chinese food. While its exact origins are debated, the thick, bubbly wrapper and hearty filling helped make egg rolls a familiar part of takeout menus across the United States.
The egg rolls came from Panda Express, which opened its first restaurant in Glendale, California, in 1983 and has grown into the largest American-Chinese restaurant chain in the United States.
There is a lot more food to tempt you on my website along with my other photography projects, my new Motion page, and be sure to check out my blog. There is even more there and it is updated almost daily. Visit SecondFocus.com Thanks!
National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day: Krispy Kreme Raspberry Filled
Today is National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day
The entire reason for today’s holiday is the filling, yet a jelly-filled doughnut looks pretty much like a lot of other doughnuts until somebody tears it open.
So I did.
For this photograph, I chose Krispy Kreme Glazed Raspberry Filled doughnuts. While Krispy Kreme is best known for its Original Glazed doughnut, the Raspberry Filled version combines Krispy Kreme’s glazed doughnut with one of the most traditional doughnut fillings.
Krispy Kreme was founded in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1937 and built its reputation on fresh glazed doughnuts. Today, nearly ninety years later, it remains one of the most recognizable doughnut brands in America.
National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day follows closely behind National Doughnut Day and celebrates a style of doughnut that appears in many forms around the world. Germany has the Berliner, Poland has the pączki, Italy has the bomboloni, and in the United States we simply call them jelly-filled doughnuts.
There is a lot more food to tempt you on my website along with my other photography projects, my new Motion page, and be sure to check out my blog. There is even more there and it is updated almost daily. https://www.secondfocus.com
Wings and Waffles for National Chicken Wing Day
Today is National Chicken Wing Day, and I decided to do something a little different. Instead of photographing just wings, I thought—why not stack them on waffles? A twist on the classic chicken and waffles that has been a Southern comfort food staple for generations.
Chicken and waffles has deep roots in American food history. Its origins trace back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, where fried chicken and waffles were served together in the South. The pairing later became iconic in Harlem’s jazz clubs during the 1930s and 40s, offered as a hearty dish for late-night musicians and patrons—too early for dinner, too late for breakfast. Over time, it became a combination that blends sweet, savory, and crispy textures in one plate.
As for National Chicken Wing Day, that’s thanks to Buffalo, New York—the city credited with creating the Buffalo-style wing in 1964 at the Anchor Bar. Teressa Bellissimo is said to have fried leftover chicken wings for her son and his friends, tossing them in a spicy sauce and serving them with celery and blue cheese. The idea took off. By 1977, Buffalo declared July 29th as National Chicken Wing Day, cementing the city’s claim to the now-famous bar food.
So here we are—Buffalo wings meet Belgian waffles, photographed just as they were plated. No styling, no tricks. A nod to both a food holiday and an enduring classic that continues to reinvent itself.
Take a look at more of my work in my Commercial Food Photography gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
National Egg Roll Day – A Stack Worth Photographing
Today is National Egg Roll Day, which recognizes one of the most iconic—and uniquely American—adaptations of Chinese cuisine. The egg roll, with its thick wheat flour wrapper and fried exterior, has become a takeout staple across the country. While its origins are loosely tied to Chinese spring rolls, the American egg roll took on a life of its own in the 20th century, evolving into something crispier, heavier, and more filled with meat and cabbage than its traditional counterparts.
National Egg Roll Day was launched in 2019 by Van’s Kitchen, a Dallas-based food manufacturer, to honor the deep roots of egg rolls in American food culture and to recognize immigrant-founded food businesses. Since then, it has quietly earned a spot on the food holiday calendar each June 10.
For this photograph, I picked up 18 Panda Express chicken egg rolls—one of the most widely available fast food versions. Panda Express, with over 2,200 locations across the U.S., serves more egg rolls than any other chain of its kind. According to industry data, the brand sells millions of them annually, with egg rolls consistently listed among their top-selling sides. They come filled with cabbage, carrots, and chicken, wrapped in a thick fried shell. Here, I tore some of them open and piled them into a stack on my black background. Topped with their three most common condiments—sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard, and chili sauce—they’re shown as served. Nothing added, nothing styled.
This image is part of my From Bag to Background series, documenting fast food as it actually appears, without props or retouching. You can see the rest of the series at: https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc
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