Million, Quiche, Moussaka, Mousse

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Fri Mar 24 07:45:07 UTC 2000


MILLION, QUICHE, MOUSSAKA

     "Make me a Millionaire!"  You could do a lot worse with drink names.
      I haven't seen "Millionaire" in Ayto's or Mariani's food & drink
encyclopedias.  It wasn't in the OED books.  OED online, perhaps?
     "Millionaire Cocktail" is in TWO HUNDRED SELECTED DRINKS (1934) by Knut
Sundin, pg. 20.
     OLD MR. BOSTON DE LUXE OFFICIAL BARTENDER'S GUIDE (1935) has, on pages
84-85, a "Millionaire Cocktail No. 1," a "Millionaire Cocktail No. 2," and a
"Million Dollar Cocktail."
    I was looking at HOUSE BEAUTIFUL magazine from the late 1930s (this
magazine had James Beard's food & drink articles in the 1950s), and I noticed
a column called "Food & Drink Bar," beginning October 1937.  It mainly
focused on New York City establishments.
    This "Million" is similar to Old Mr. Boston's "Millionaire Cocktail No.
1."  From HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, March 1939 (Gotham Hotel in NYC), pg. 105, col. 1:

     While we're exploring drinkables you might like to hear of another
imported novelty.  Myers, the Jamaican rum makers, have happened on a new and
successful cocktail.  Its name, "Million," would be a long step toward
popularity for any product, there being practically no living person who
wouldn't willingly say "I'll take a Million."  But the name alone couldn't
put it where it is today.  It has the same eternally successful ingredients
which have been warming cockles since the first (illegible--ed.) met the
first rum.  They (illegible--ed.) taste good together.  One (col. 2--ed.)
third lemon should be used with the rum to make the "million."  Add half a
teaspoon of sugar, a dash of Angostura bitters and cracked ice, and you have
what is the simplest and most successful rum cocktail to date.  It's a grand
drink for winter or summer.

     Other HOUSE BEAUTIFUL issues turned up even greater surprises:

     October 1937, pg. 137--Lombardy Hotel (NYC).  A nameless cocktail recipe
of lime, sugar, French Vermouth, and Three Dagger Rum is given.
     November 1937, pg. 110--Hotel Carlyle (NYC).  No drinks given.
     December 1937, pg. 110, col. 2--Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (NYC).  A Drambuie
drink is described, and then this:
     One of Oscar's hot hors d'oeuvre which would be simple to prepare at
home for a cocktail party is made in this way: To a quart of boiling milk add
a half pound of diced bacon and Swiss cheese.  Mix three egg yolks, season
and cook in a round or square pan mold till it is the consistency of a
rarebit.  Then cut to the size wanted and serve hot.  The name is Quiche.
(Ayto states "the first record of it in an English text is from 1949" and
Mariani has 1945.  I should be winning a free date with Martha Stewart right
about now--ed.)
     The cocktails "September Morn" and "Racquet Club" are on pg. 111, col. 1.
     May 1938, pg. 142--St. Regis Hotel (NYC).  Planter's Punch is given.
(WHY NO BLOODY MARY??--ed.)
     June 1938, pg. 75--Sherry-Netherland Hotel (NYC).  Cold Eggs Portugaise
and Rum Swizzle are given.
     July 1938, pg. 65--Drottningham (Swedish restaurant).  Swedish Pancakes
given.
     August 1938, pg. 63--Essex House (NYC).  Tropical Cocktail and Mackinnon
Highball given.
     September 1938, pg. 98, col. 2--Hotel Madison (NYC):
     Incidentally, their Moussaka is an ideal and unusual buffet dish to give
fillip to a first fall party.  This is how Paul Moreau makes it:
     _Moussaka_.  In the bottom of a casserole fry a couple of sliced onions
until they are golden brown.  Skin, dice and parboil an eggplant, saving half
a dozen slices from the small end to fry.  Add to the onions a layer of
parboiled eggplant, two cups of roast lamb chopped very fine, another layer
of eggplant and enough veal or beef stock to cover.  Season with salt,
freshly ground pepper and chopped parsley and let simmer over a very slow
fire for half an hour.  By this time the stock should be well reduced.
Meanwhile fry the eggplant slices in hot olive oil, and slice a fresh tomato.
 Lay these slices alternatively on top of the casserole, cover with buttered
crumbs and bake about ten minutes to brown the top.  This will keep hot
nicely on the hot-plate on your buffet.
(Don't know about online OED, but the book version has 1941 for "moussaka."
Maybe Emeril needs an etymologist on the show--ed.)
     The Sandeman Cocktail is given on page 99.
     October 1938, pg. 138--Hotel Westbury (NYC).  Cafe Diable recipe is
given.
     November 1938, pg. 106--St. Regis Hotel (NYC).  Hot Buttered Rum given,
as well as Coffee Imperial (Theodore's restaurant).
     December 1938, pg. 106--Hotel Lombardy (NYC).  No drinks given.
     January 1939, pg. 75--Hotel Ambassador (NYC).  Rum Special and Rum
Cocktail are given.
     February 1939, pg. 30--Hotel Carlyle (NYC).  Sauternes Punch is given.
     April 1939, pg. 120--Mayfair House (NYC).  Eggs Benedictine, Jamaica
Grog, and Pina Punch are given.
     May 1939, pg. 164--Hotel Vanderbilt (NYC).  No drinks given.
     June 1939, pg. 91--Plaza Hotel (NYC).  William Tell Cocktail is given.
     July/August 1939, pg. 73--Savoy Plaza Hotel (NYC).  Rhum Negrita is
given.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
MOUSSE (continued)

    "Tortoni" was there because I noticed it in the dessert menus next to
mousse; they're not related to each other etymologically.
    George Thompson has helped me find the title-challenged NEW ENGLAND
KITCHEN MAGAZINE/ AMERICAN KITCHEN MAGAZINE/ HOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE/ MODERN
HOUSEKEEPING/ EVERYDAY HOUSEKEEPING, which was published in Boston from 1894
to about 1908.  I'm looking for brownie (it's in the 1896 Fannie Farmer
cookbook of the Boston Cooking School), peanut butter, club sandwich, Waldorf
salad, sundae, and others.  I'll finish the four reels on Sunday.
    This is from the NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN MAGAZINE, August 1894, pg. 240, col.
2:

    _Mousse_,--This derives its name from the mossy, feathery ice developed
in whipped cream, which is put in a mould and left for several hours packed
in ice and salt.



More information about the Ads-l mailing list