Mostaccioli Mystery in Milwaukee; Mud Cake

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MUD CAKE

   Here is that entry from the I.S. & E. U. COOKBOOK (1925), pg. 72:

   MUD CAKE
1 cup sugar,
1 egg,
Butter, size of egg,
1/2 cup sour milk,
1 t. saleratus in
1/2 cup hot water,
1 1/2 cups flour,
3 squares chocolate,
Frosting.
   Boil one cup sugar and enough water to moisten it, boil until it strings, then beat the white of an egg stiff, then pour the syrup in slowly, beating all the time until (Pg. 73--ed.) nice and creamy.  Spread over cake and let cool, then spread bitter chocolate on top of white.

   Another recipe is given in MUD PIES AND OTHER RECIPES (Macmillan Company, NY, 1961), by Marjorie Winslow (no page numbers):

   MUD PIES
   To a coffee can filled 3/4 full of rich dirt, add just enough water to make a very firm mud.  Pack this mud into the cups in the bottom half of a heavy cardboard egg carton.  Set in the sun to dry slightly, then turn the carton over and unmold on a sunny terrace or sidewalk.  When the pies are hard, they are done.  Serves 12.
   These mud pies keep indefinitely and are good to have on hand for impromptu entertaining.

(There are also "sandwich" recipes here you don't want to see--ed.)

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MOSTACCIOLI MYSTERY IN MILWAUKEE

   I checked the restaurants in the phonebook fiche for St. Louis and Milwaukee.  No Mississippi Mud Pies.
   There were several "bombers" in Milwaukee in, for example, May 1978, pg. 1010, col. 1:

MEATBALL BOMBERS--Jerry's Pizza, 10th & Lincoln.
ITALIAN SANDWICHES (BOMBERS)--Little Italy, 925 N. 27th Street.
PIZZA BOMBERS--Pizza by Dave, 800 E. Lincoln Ave.

   Most interesting is the Milwaukee "Mostaccioli" Mystery.
   "Mostaccioli" is not in OED.
   "Mostaccioli" is not in DARE.
   "Mostaccioli" is not in Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK.
   "Mostaccioli" was not offered in ANY other Italian restaurant that I've checked, in various phone books.
   So why is "mostaccioli" all over Milwaukee?

May 1976, MILWAUKEE, pg. 934 ("pizza"), col. 1 ad:
THE ORIGINAL
BARBIERE'S
ITALIAN RESTAURANT
   PIZZA
SPAGHETTI--MOSTOCHOLLI--LASAGNE
SCALPINI--RAVIOLI--CHICKEN
WITH HOME MADE GARLIC BREAD

May 1976, MILWAUKEE, pg. 936, col. 3 ad:
CAPRI PIZZA RESTAURANT
   LASAGNA
CHICKEN CACCIATORE
VEAL SCALOPPINE
RAVIOLI
SPAGHETTI
MOSTACCIOLI

May 1976, MILWAUKEE, pg. 937, col. 2 ad:
THE ORIGINAL
GIUSEPPE'S
ON TEUTONIA
Has Fed the Hungry Since 1953
PIZZA--SPAGHETTI
LASAGNA--RAVIOLI
MOSTACCIOLI
SEA FOOD--CHICKEN
SANDWICHES
ITALIAN--AMERICAN

May 1976, MILWAUKEE, Pg. 1058 ("restaurants"), col. 2 ad:
CARADARO CLUB
Authentic Old World Pizza Since 1945
Complete Italian Menu
   Including
Spaghetii--Ravioli--Mostaccioli
Lasagna--Italian Sandwiches

May 1978, MILWAUKEE, pg. 1012, col. 2 ad:
SCAFFIDI'S HOUSE OF PIZZA
"KING OF THE DOUBLE CRUST PIZZA"
 LASAGNA . SPAGHETTI . RAVIOLI
 MOSTACCOLI . SEAFOODS . STEAKS . CHICKEN

   This is from THE DICTIONARY OF ITALIAN FOOD AND DRINK (Broadway Books, NY, 1998) by John Mariani, pg. 159:

_mostaccioli_ (moh-stah-CH'YOH-lee)  Small cakes of southern Italy made of honey, flour, orange peel, almonds, and spices.  They are cut into diamond shapes and baked, then covered with chocolate icing.  Also _mustazzoli_ and _mustazzuoli_.
   In Piedmont, a cookie called _mostaceu_ is made with cornmeal and sweet wine.  Both names probably derive from Latin _mustaceum_, meaning a cake made with must.
   _Mostaccioli_ is also the name for a tubular pasta shape similar to _penne_.

   Will OED include it?  Why did all the "mostaccioli" guys go to Wisconsin and all the "apizza" guys go to Connecticut?