Cruller (1788); Russian Salad (1857); Russian Dressing (1915); Feta (1915)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

    I can't find my 1915 French fries!  I'm going nuts!
    Here's a roundup, before stuff gets lost.

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CRULLER

   11 January 1880, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 9:
   CRULLERS.--Noticing that you give dates for your receipts--not that they
are better for that, but only because people think so--here is one for
crullers, or crollers, taken from an old manuscript receipt-book written in
New-York in 1788: "Take of buttermilk one-half of a cup, and two cupful of
Muscavado, a piece of sweet butter as large as a walnut, a teaspoonful of
salt, and a tablespoonful of ground cass (cinnamon?) just as much wheaten
flour as will make a running dough: roll it even, not above a pie thickness;
cut in strips, which tie over in lover's knots; have a skillet with sweet
home-made hog's fat, and when the fat is hissing hot fry your crollers."  I
tried this receipt with some hesitation, as there was no saleratus in it, and
was surprised to find it made a light cruller.  HISTORICAL MARY.

   Frizzell, Lodisa, "_Diary of Lodisa Frizzell, May 1952_," pg. 20 (NORTH
AMERICAN WOMEN'S LETTERS AND DIARIES):
   ..& fried some crulls &...

   Moore, Nancy E., "_Diary of Nancy E. Moore, January 1864_," pg. 178 (NORTH
AMERICAN WOMEN'S LETTERS AND DIARIES):
   ...Fried some Crulls or doughnuts,--...

(DARE has 1820 for "cruller"--ed..)

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--------------------------------------------RUSSIAN SALAD

   7 March 1857 NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 1:
   Lobster, Chicken and Russian Salad

   17 October 1880, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 9:
   RUSSIAN SALAD.--Take the breast and drumsticks of aa cold roasted or
boiled fowl and cut fine; slice and cutfour slices of ham or six of tongue;
cut the meat in slivers; slice six good-size potatoes; mince finely one sour
apple; mix all of these together; make either a mayonnaise sauce or an oil or
vinegar dressing; deecorate with bcet(?--ed.)-root and olives; an excellent
addition is two anchovies cut fine; I do not add an onion, though the true
Russian salad ought to have it.--J. D. N.

(OED has 1879 for "Russian salad"--ed.)

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RUSSAIN DRESSING

   13 January 1915, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 6 ad:
_For salads and cooking_
   Tartar sauce,
   Russian dressing,
   Roquefort dressing,
   delicious and
   economical
   when made with
Wesson
Oil

(OED has 1922 for "Russian Dressing."  There are also two 1919 cites in the
database.  John Mariani states that Russian dressing "is American in origin,
first found in print in 1922"--ed.)

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FETA

   1 December 1915, pg. 21:
   A case involving the market value of Greek cheese for dutiable purposes
was settled yesterday by Board 2 in favor of the importers.  The cheese was
shipped to this country by C. Fanti of Patras, and entered the Custom House
as having a value of 1.20 francs per oke, plus transportation and packing
charges.  Appraiser Sague held that Patras was the market for feta cheese of
this kind, and raised the entered value to make Patras prices.

(I believe a 1919 cite is in the archives.  Merriam-Webster has 1940, and OED
has a ridiculous 1956 for "feta" cheese--ed.)

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DELI

   The shortened form of "delicatessen" is suprisingly late on the NYT
database.

   27 January 1966, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 18 (The Gaiety Delicatessen Closes
after 43 years)):
   And Sammy Cahn, who wrote the lyrics for the show, wrote a few lines,
including "Gaiety Deli.  Gaiety Deli./Where all aromas dwell/We'll miss you
for a thousand reasons/we'll miss the shoving and the squeeze-ins."

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DOUBLE, TRIPLE DECKER SANDWICHES

   I thought Reuben's would be mentioned, but these are the first double- and
triple-deckers on the NYT database.

   6 September 1932, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 17 ad:
Double decker Sandwich
Sugar Cured Ham with
   Fresh Swiss Cheese
_Windsor Cafeterias

   13 November 1935, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 46 ad:
SPECIAL: Triple Decker
SANDWICH: Deviled Ham
and Swiss Cheese--Tomato
--Lettuce--Mayonnaise--           20 cents
Pickle   regular 30 cents
_225 LOFT STORES--one near you

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MILK SHAKE, ICE CREAM SODA TERMINOLOGY

   2 June 1957, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 139:
   But wherever or whatever the milk shake in the Midwest, the Easterner is
duty-bound to follow the native custom and send it back to the chef if the
straws do not stand up in the concoction.  (For the benefit of New Yorkers
venturing in directions other than Chicago, this elixir is known in Boston as
a "cabinet"; in South Carolina, as a :blizzard."
(...)
_Terminology_
   As for the ice cream soda, in New York, a chocolate soda (ice cream, not
2-cents plain) is made with chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup and fizz
water.  In the Midwest, such a collection of ingredients is a "double
chocolate soda."  What a Midwesterner gets, when he orders a chocolate
soda--in Des Moines or Minneapolis--is what New Yorkers call a "black and
white" (chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream).

(DARE's first "cabinet" is also 1957.  DARE does not record "blizzard" or
"black and white"--ed.)