On this episode of Our American Stories, when 16-year-old Hector Boiardi stepped off the ship at Ellis Island, he carried more ambition than belongings. Trained as a chef, he brought Old World recipes to his new country and eventually opened a restaurant that made his pasta sauce famous. Soon, his name—changed to Boyardee so Americans could pronounce it—appeared on canned foods across the nation. Our own Greg Hengler shares the remarkable story of a man you know, but whose story you don’t.

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