It’s Saturday night and I like your new hat;
I’m ready to pop with emotion and that;
I’m fizzy and fiery and fruity and tense,
So let’s have a sundae and hang the expense!
Strawberry sundae image from wikipedia.org. USDA photo by: Ken Hammond
When Alan Patrick Herbert wrote those lines in 1932, soda fountains reigned and sundaes ruled. At the time, the sundae, also known as the sundi, college ice, college soda, or throwover (so called because syrups, fruits, and sauces were thrown over scoops of ice cream) cost 15 to 20 cents. So, on a Saturday night, some could hang the expense and splurge on a sundae despite the Depression.
Soda jerks made sundaes with ice creams, fruits, whipped cream, marshmallow, nuts, and all sorts of syrups and sauces – coffee, butterscotch, strawberry, pineapple, cherry, raspberry. Both cold and hot fudge sauces were popular. But hot fudge was generally reserved for winter.
Sundaes were flavored with imagination and named with flair. There was a “Bachelor” sundae, a “Boston Club,” a “Delmonico,” a “Merry Widow,” a “Bees Knees,” a “Lucky Lindy,” a “Tutti Frutti Temptation,” an “Easter Sundae,” and more.
The “Princess Pat” celebrated St. Patrick’s day with vanilla and strawberry ice creams, orange ice, crème de menthe syrup, almonds, whipped cream, and a cherry.
The “Washington Sundae” commemorated the birthday of America’s first president with French vanilla ice cream, maraschino cherries, whipped cream, and pecans. It was topped with a mini-hatchet.
A tiny American flag decorated the “Betsy Ross” sundae. It featured three scoops of vanilla ice cream with crushed strawberries poured over one, crushed pineapple atop another and, over the third, a ladleful of blue-tinted marshmallow.
Yellow-tinted marshmallow topped a “Setting Sun Tulip” sundae. Its colorful ingredients included raspberry and orange ices, raspberries, and orange slices.
A “Coney Island” sundae paid tribute to New York’s famed amusement park with ice creams and ices piled up like a roller-coaster. They were topped with crushed raspberries, whipped cream, and a cherry.
A “Reducing Diet” sundae, made with unsweetened fresh fruit and just a taste of ice cream, was neither a splurge nor a success.
But the “Aviation Glide” was both. Banana halves flanked a scoop each of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice creams. Nabisco wafers represented the wings and tail of the plane. A cherry atop the chocolate scoop played the role of the pilot. Crushed cherries, pineapple, pecans, and whipped cream completed the creation. A big hit with university students, it was definitely a 20 cent sundae.
The “Peach Melba” sundae may have been a tribute to Escoffier’s “Pêche Melba.” But instead of his ice cream, poached peach, and raspberry syrup combination, it consisted of a peach half topped with ice cream, strawberry syrup, coconut, whipped cream, and a cherry. It wasn’t served in a swan carved from ice either. (For more on Escoffier, go to: http://www.travellady.com/Articles/article-visitingescoffier.html .)
The “Chop Suey” sundae was an odd one. Like chop suey itself, it had no connection to Chinese cuisine or culture. I think the name simply indicated a mishmash.
When I made it, it was lumpy. So after cooking the dates and figs, I let the mixture cool a bit, then pureed it in a food processor. I folded in the walnuts after that. Not only is it tasty on ice cream, but it’s good with goat cheese.
It’s worth the splurge – in calories.
Chop Suey Sundae
Take one-half pound of chopped figs and one-half pound of dates. Remove the stem of the figs and the seed from the dates. Put these into two quarts of water and cook into a jelly. While this is cooking chop or pulverize in a mortar one pound of English walnut meat. Add this to the above and cook until a good syrup is formed. Thin this to suit taste. Keep a small amount in a bowl for dispensing, putting the balance in a jar and keeping on the ice. – The Spatula Soda Water Guide and Book of Formulas for Soda Water Dispensers, 1901.
What a beautiful Saturday night with yummy ice creams.. Thank you so much for pointing us in the right direction.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSTQDVc0tc Very much appreciated..The taste is really rich, and surprisingly satisfying, probably because they're still made with strawberry..
Posted by: Yummy recipe | April 28, 2011 at 06:10 AM
How fascinating. Don't know if we're cousins, but must be some connection. My father's family came from Abruzzo. I'm in Massachusetts. Stay in touch.
Posted by: Jeri Quinzio | February 02, 2010 at 11:25 AM
My maiden name was Di Quinzio; I am a dedicated "foody;" ice cream is my favorite food; and I teach high school writing classes. Were we separated at birth? Seriously, are we maybe cousins or something?
Posted by: Linda DiQuinzio Cace | January 29, 2010 at 12:36 PM