Congo Bar origins (Boston Globe, 1994)

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08/25/1994
The Boston Globe

City Edition
3
(Copyright 1994)



Mystery clouds the origins of the congo bar. Who invented it? When? How did it get its name? Just one thing's sure: The cookie is a winner.
Consider its antecedents. The congo bar is "the brownie" version of a chocolate chip cookie, explains baker Judy Rosenberg, owner of Rosie's Bakery. "Anything that's in any way reminiscent of the chocolate chip cookie is an all-American favorite."


Chewy with brown suger, rich with butter, studded with walnuts and semisweet chocolate chips, the congo bar is a classic lunchbox treat. Hefty squares of the cookie are now sold around Boston, alongside upscale baked goods.
Reference staff at Radcliffe's Schlesinger Library have sought the source of the recipe -- and its name -- without luck. Even so, there's a core concept to the congo bar. For example, we knew the thin, rather dry versions weren't it. Nor was the tall, mild, cakelike example. The paradigm should be medium-thick, moist and sweet.

We found it.

Even other bakers referred us to Rosie's. Rosenberg got her first congo bar recipe from a friend 20 years ago, when she was starting out baking in her home. She now sells about 1,200 of the cookies a week at her various stores.

A person can invent what they like to explain the congo bar. Our theory is, arm yourself with a glass of milk and try one.

Rosie's Bakery, 9 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, Newton. 277-5629. The bakery's congo bars are $1.50 each.