CUE's "Table Talk" (1938-1939)

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   CUE (NY, NY) no longer exists.  It merged into NEW YORK magazine, and now there's also TIME OUT NEW YORK for weekly food listings.  CUE started out with entertainment stories, but quickly added restaurant ads and a weekly "Table Talk" column.
   A CUE book or two was published, but forget about that.  You have to go through each issue.  I'm looking at "Table Talk" from the 1930s through the 1960s.  Columbia University has the full run of that.
   These "Table Talk" columns were written by Brailsford Felder, unless I tell you it's by Lawton Mackall (KNIFE AND FORK IN NEW YORK author) or someone else.

20 August 1938, pg. 12, col. 1--All over town the barmen tell us that the cocktail known variously as the _West Indies_, the _Cuban_, or the _Frozen Daiquiri_ is the up-and-coming drink of the moment.

10 September 1938, pg. 11, col. 3--Thursday is opulently Italian with _Stucchi Genovese_, which is a marvelous mating of chicken mousse and chicken livers _en brochette_, blanketed in ham, mushrooms, and truffles.

12 November 1938, pg. 10, col. 1--"New York Cut" is a phrase to conjure with on Western menus, and you can be sure that the word "cut" doesn't refer to the price.
   (Col. 2--ed.)  ...Daiquiri-sipping glamor girls.

3 December 1938, pg. 41, col. 2--...you can order _Crepes Bacchus_--at no extra cost.  They're _Crepes Suzette_ with a difference.  The _Crepe_ is wrapped lovingly around a row of large white grapes before it gets its baptism of fire.

10 December 1938, pg. 43, col. 2--...ebon-hued Walnut Sauce by Cross & Blackwell, concocters also of luxurient Mushroom Catsup, besides turning out Mint sauce in their spare time.  (...) Morton's 101 Sauce, slyly fruity and nutty; Ocar's glorified chili; Philippoff's Russian Mustard Sauce...trig earthenware _poupons_ of Dijon mustard....

14 January 1939, pg. 36, col. 2--..._Patlijan Bostan_ is "tender pieces of lamb with Oriental dill and fresh tomatoes baked in oven," _Funduk Keofte_, "baked baby meat ball with tomato sauce," etc., etc.

21 January 1939, pg. 36, col. 1--...such other unfamiliar taste thrills as pomegranate cocktail, badami soup (with almonds and cocoanut), Dhal (lentils), Tulpadi (sesame seed cakes), copra (fresh fried cocoanut), burfee (almond cream cake), and, sounding like the Arabian Nights, rose petal coffee.

18 February 1939, pg. 39, col. 1--In which case, why not try a cutlet _a la Kieff_?  (Casino Russe, 157 W. 56th Street--ed.)

4 March 1939, pg. 39, col. 2--Moa Oma Me Leko Me Palaoa is what Hawaiians call young boned chicken poached in a crock.  As served in the Hawaiian Room of the Hotel Lexington it's the genuine Pacific Isles article except that it's wrapped in cellophane instead of plantain leaves.

11 March 1939, pg. 41, col. 2--When Fred C. Eberlin, who came to this country from Alsace in the mid-Nineteenth Century, decided to go into business for himself in 1872, he did so in the cellar at the corner of Wall St. and Broadway, where his establishment remained until the Irving Trust Company erected its giant skyscraper on the site and forced Eberlin's around the corner at 45 New St.
   The Eberlin tradition moved with it.  The bartender, Henry Jacob, for instance, has been with Eberlin's 54 years, the "rectifier" (storeroom man, to you) 40 years.  Eberlin employees of less than 25 years standing are looked upon as newcomers.  Eberlin's claims to be the birthplace of the Gin Daisy, the Jack Rose, and the Jersey Lily; but proof positive is lost somewhere in the mists of time.

18 March 1939, pg. 43, col. 2--The slogan "Never a Dull Moment" means just what it says.  (Radio Franks, 70 E. 55th St.--ed.)

15 April 1939, pg. 40, col. 3--Your cocktail arrives in a little individual shaker, and you can mix your own salad and dressing on an ambulatory salad wagon--a trick that brings out the chef who lurks in all of us.
(See "salad bar" in ADS-L archives--ed.)

29 April 1939, pg. 45, col. 2--SINCE NEW YORK IS the culinary capital of these United States, it seems likely that the millions of visitors from the hinterland, who come to view the World's Fair's wonders, will want to include among their souvenirs a good many that are edible.
(See "capital of the world" in ADS-L archives.  Rudy Giuliani used the phrase last night on yet another appearance--his last?--on Saturday Night Live--ed.)

6 May 1939, pg. 44, col. 2--Nor is Miss (Faith--ed.) Bacon, though mentioned last, to be taken lightly.  It is, in fact, Miss Bacon who will pop the eyes of the World's Fair visitors right out of their sockets.  SHe claims, as you may have seen in the papers, to be the originator of the fan dance, and her two new Riviera specialties have been the subject of endless advance speculation.
   She adds one letter to "fan" and creates the "Fawn Dance." (...)(Col. 3--ed.)  In her other dance Miss Bacon, who insists her work is art, not "porniography," will appear swathed in orchids.

13 May 1939, pg. 42, col. 3--To make a Gin and Vermouth Cup, put 1 cup (the kitchen measuring kind) of gin, 1/4 cup Vermouth, the juice of 3 lemons, 2 tablespoonsful of sugar syrup (3 if you use confectioners sugar) in a 2 quart pitcher, stir, fill up with cold charged water and serve in tall, slender glasses with a couple of lumps of ice in each one.

13 May 1939, pg. 47, col. 3--Between rhumbas at the Cuban Village you can experiment with _tasajo_, which is jerked beef, _apiazo_, which is the Cuban version of vegetable soup, and _congri_, which is black beans and rice cooked together--and get tight in the Cuban fashion on _daiquiris_ and _Cuba libres_ of real rum.

10 June 1939, pg. 42, col. 3--Essex House, since it takes its name from a close friend of a former Queen Elizabeth, is feeling very proprietary about the royal visit.  Consequently, the Casino-on-the-Park has been done over in English chintz and is featuring a (Pg. 43, col. 1--ed.) new cocktail created in honor of the Queen and called "Her Majesty".  This regal intoxicant is composed of 2/3 London Gin, 1/3 Benedictine, and the juice of 1 lime.  It should be poured into a glass garnished with a twist of lime peel.
(Compare the name with "Bloody Mary," also in 1939--ed.)

17 June 1939, pg. 42, col. 3--_Jajik_, a cold soup made of the Turkish version of sour cream....

8 July 1939, pg. 43, col. 2--Apropos of the growing popularity of Vermouth drinks, the hotel Ambassador's head bartender, Nick, is keeping up with or, rather, ahead of the times.  He's invented a new tall potation called the Ambassador Cooler which you'll probably want to try.  It's actually a variation of the familiar Vermouth and soda, with a few new wrinkles.
   Into a tall glass pour 1 jigger of Italian Vermouth, 1 jigger of French Vermouth, a dash of Angostura Bitters, and a dash of Compari bitters.  Add ice, garnish with a twist of lemon, and fill up with seltzer.  Vermouth drinks, incidentally, are good news for the calory-conscious--they don't contain the pesky things.

29 July 1939, pg. 39, col. 3--Her Jade Cocktail, which is made of 4 cups of grapefruit juice, 1 cup of spinach juice, 1/4 cup of watercress juice, and a pinch of vegetable salt, will give you some idea of the limitless (Helena--ed.) Rubinstein imagination.

12 August 1939, pg. 32(?), col. 2--For a main dish in the Finnish manner try _Metsastajapihvi_, which means "hunter's steak" and is made with veal.  Or, for a simpler dish, you might order _Olutmakkaraa_, a sort of Arctic hot dog made of "Finnfurters."

19 August 1939, pg. 33, col. 1--"Park Avenue" is the perfect drink.  To one part of champagne and one part of brandy ass 1 slice of lemon, pour over ice in champagne glasses and let Nature take its own perfect course.

26 August 1939, pg. 33, col. 2--Consider the virtues of Frosted Sherry as the epcurean finale to a warm weather meal (or, for that matter, of a gala Wintertime dinner).  It's made with 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup of sugar, a 1/2-inch stick of cinnamon, 2 cups of grape juice, 2 cups of pineapple juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind, 3 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca, 1 cup of fresh raspberries, 1/2 cup of sherry.  (...)

23 September 1939, pg. 31, col. 2--You might try "oke" punch, which comes in a cocoanut shell that you can take home with you, and as a main dish, Moa Oma Me Leko Me Palao, which is the Hawaiian way of describing young boned chicken with artichoke hearts and other matters.

14 October 1939, pg. 40, col. 3--_Food Cue of the Week_--The Caruso Restaurant Chain will send out on request anywhere in Manhattan, chicken dinners consisting of (1) a spiral-roasted milk fed chicken, (2) vegetables, (3) bread and butter, all for $2.  Serves 4.  No charge for delivery.
(See archives for "take-out"--ed.)

21 October 1939, pg. 31, col. 3--_Food Cue of the Week_--Pepperidge Farm Bread is very much in the "for those who can afford and appreciate the best" tradition.  It is actually home baked at Pepperidge Farm, the country estate of one Mrs. Margaret Rudkin up near Westport, and rushed to town via American Express between midnight and dawn each morning.  It comes in white and whole wheat and retails for 25 cents a loaf at Vendome, 415 Madison Ave., or at your local Gristede's.

18 November 1939, pg. 32--(Thanksgiving at the White Turkey Town House, 1 University Place/NYU, of "turkey" interest--ed.)

9 December 1939, pg. 43, col. 3--_Food Cue of the Week_--Mississippi Pecan Pie at Little Old Mansion, 61 E. 52nd St., comes on the regular $1 and up dinner.  Miss Gladys Caton Wilcock, Little Old Mansion proprietress, has graciously given the recipe to this department and copies will be sent to readers on request.

23 December 1939, pg. 31, col. 3--_Food Cue of the Week_--Banana Chips, a smart new idea for the cocktail hour, look like potato chips, are made of bananas, and taste like neither.  They're 25 cents the 4 oz. bag at Wanamaker's, Macy's, Vendome, McCreery's.

(To Be Continued--ed.)