Creole Coffee; Danish Pastry; Virginia Reel

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Tue Aug 1 08:40:38 UTC 2000


CREOLE COFFEE

     I e-mailed the Historic New Orleans Collection (www.hnoc.org) and asked
about their holdings on Food & Drink.  Do they have a menu collection--from
Antoine's (which may have originated or popularized "Creole Coffee")?  Do
they have any rare bartending volumes to help on "Manhattan" and "Martini"?
I was told I'd be responded by regular mail.
     From the BOSTON COOKING-SCHOOL MAGAZINE, October 1907, pg. 136, col. 2:

     _Creole Coffee_
     Into the blazer of a chafing dish put a lump of sugar for each person
present at table, add a tablespoonful of whole cloves, three sticks of
cinnamon broken in pieces, and one tablespoonful of candied orange peel (cut
in shreds).  Over these pour one-fourth a cup of brandy, light the brandy
with a match and let it burn, stirring the ingredients occasionally.  When
the alcohol has burned out, turn in clear, hot breakfast coffee to fill the
dish.  Stir a few moments, (Pg. 137, col. 1--ed.) then with a silver ladle
dip the coffee into cups.  Serve with or without cream.

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DANISH PASTRY

     OED has 1935 for "Danish Pastry"--and it cites Webster.  Boy, and you
thought OED was bad on "biscotti"!
     From John Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD & DRINK (1999):

_Danish pastry._  (...)  Although the pastries may have Danish origins, these
flaky buns and rolls are more foten associated with New York Jewish
delicatessens and bakeries.  With this meaning the word first appeared in
print in 1928.

     From AMERICAN COOKERY (I have the index only), Complete Index June/July
1921-May 1922:

Pastry, Danish.  Ill. ...516

     From THE NATION'S CHEFS, December, 1929, pg. 46, col. 1:

     _Danish Pastry_
    As Demonstrated By
    Christian Sorensen
(Mr. Sorenson kindly posed for these photographs at his place of business,
the Terminus Restaurant, Chicago.  Photos by J. D. Vehling.)
     Christian Sorenson is a good baker.  WHat's more, he originally comes
from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he learned his trade.  Putting two and two
together, we reasoned that he must know something about (col. 2--ed.) Danish
Pastry.  We were correct.  As we like to go to authentic sources for our
information, we went to him to tell us all about Danish Pastry, taking the
cameras along.
     The dough for Danish Pastry is similar in treatment to puff paste.  You
take a good stiff yeast dough, but take less butter than for puff paste, and
roll it in only three times three.  Let the dough repose some time between
the intervals, then roll it out, as shown in the illustration.
     Otherwise the treatment is much the same as in the case of ordinary
sweet rolls.

     The first "Danish pastry" citations seem to come after WWI.  Some
cookbooks:

1907--THE BOOK OF PRICELESS RECIPES by the Hahnemann Hospital (Philadelphia,
PA) has "Cheese Pastry," "German Doughnuts," and "German Waffles," but no
"Danish Pastry."
     An extensive "Pastry" heading has:
Cheese Cake; Cocoanut Pie; Cream Pies; Custard Pie; Florida Lemon Pie; Lemon
Cheese Cake; Hattie's Lemon Custard; Lemon Meringue; Lemon Meringue Pie;
Lemon Pie; Linden Hall Seminary Taffy Pies; Maryland Lemon Pies; Superfine
Mince Meat; Mince Meat; Mince Pie; Molasses Lemon Pie; Pumpkin Pie; Raisin
Pie; Temperance Meat Pie.
1908--LOWNEY'S COOK BOOK by Maria Willett Howard has "Danish Pudding" and
"Pastry," but no "Danish Pastry."
1915--THE SOMETHING-DIFFERENT DISH by Marion Harris Neal has everything from
"Bubble and Squeak" to "Faggots," but no "Danish Pastry."
1916--MARY JANE'S COOK BOOK has only "Pastry, Turkish cream."
1918--CONSERVATION RECIPES by Mobilized Oranizations of Berkeley, CA, has no
"Danish Pastry" in its extensive pastry list.
1918--DESSERTS AND SALADS by Gesine Lemcke has "Denmark Cake," but no "Danish
Pastry."
1918(?)--COOK BOOK OF THE JUNIOR BOARD OF THE WOMAN'S HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
(Cleveland, Ohio; founded 1913) has "Zweiback Pastry" and "Sailor Duff" on
pg. 111, but no "Danish Pastry."
1925--EVERYBODY'S COOK BOOK by Isabel Ely Lord has "English Pastry" and
"French Pastry," but not "Danish Pastry."
1925--THE HOME MAKERS' COOKING SCHOOL COOK BOOK (Chicago, Ill.) by Jessie M.
DeBoth has "Pastry: Almond, Plain Rich, Puff, Venison."
1926--CAKES FOR BAKERS (3rd ed., Bakers' Helper Company, Chicago, Ill.) by
Paul Richards has "Danish Pastries, 200, 218, 388, 390" and "Danish Pastry
Dough...201."  It also has "Danish Cream Tarts...204, 391."
1926--EVERY WOMAN'S COOK BOOK by Mrs. Chas. F. Moritz has "Danish Pastries,
469" and "Danish Salad, 262."
1928--THE MODERN COOK BOOK by K. Camille Den Dooven has a large dessert
section, but a "French Pastry" heading only.
1928--THE BLUE GINGHAM COOK BOOK by Imogene B. Woolcott has "Danish Apple
Cake" and "Danish Sour Pickles."

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VIRGINIA REEL

     It's a reel mystery.
     The Virginia Reel was a dance.  Was it also a food?
     From the BOSTON COOKING-SCHOOL MAGAZINE, May 1906, pg. 504, col. 1:

QUERY 1130.--Miss K. M. E. Clifton: "How are Virginia reels made and baked,
and where are the best forms on which they are shaped baked?"
     _Virginia Reels_
     We do not know the articles referred to under the name given above.



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