Hangtown Fry (1951, 1987)

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_Hangtown Fry._  A dish of oysters, eggs, and bacon supposedly concocted
during the California Gold Rush of 1849 when a recently lucky miner brought a sack
of gold to the Cary House Restaurant in Hangtown and ordered the most
expensive meal in the place.
--John Mariani, ENYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK (1999)
(The Cary House didn't exist in 1849, but more on that below--ed.)


   I searched for "Hangtown Fry, " which DARE has only from 1949.  There was
nothing early, although the microfilming of this periodical has gaps.
Placerville is the new name for Hangtown.


   19 July 1951, MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT (Placerville, California), pg. 12, col. 3:
_Oakland Mayor, Visiting Newspapermen, Other_
_Dignitaries to Sample "Hangtown Fry" Breakfast_
   "Hangtown Fry," a delectable breakfast dish which had its origins at the
Cary House in the early mining days and has since appeared on tables of the
nation's leading hotels and restaurants, will be served to members of the
visiting press delegation, Oakland's Mayor Clifford Rishell and other dignitaries
attending the Wagon Caravan Breakfast at the fair grounds Sunday morning.
   Mayor A. H. "Sandy" Murray, who issued invitations to the mayors of
Oakland and San Francisco to attend the Caravan festivities this week end, has been
assured that Mayor Rishell will be present.  Mayor Robinson of San Francisco
had an important prior official obligation.
   Lloyd Raffetto, owner of the Raffles Hotel, says the story of the origin
of Hangtown Fry, though well known here, is worthy of repetition.
   A well-heeled miner who has been panning a rich sand bar for several weeks
and eating his own sorry cooking came into the Cary House and demanded:
   "What is the most expensive meal you serve to a hungry man for breakfast?"
   He was told that fresh eggs, then selling for about a dollar apiece and
hard to get, was considered the No. 1 breakfast, or that a breakfast of fried
oysters might be considered a first line (Col. 4--ed.) delicacy.
   "Well, give me three of four eggs and put in some oysters," the miner
said, "And throw in a couple slabs of bacon, too."
   The resulting dish was so pleasing that others (presumably those whose
pokes were full of dust and nuggets) followed suit, and the recipe became famous.
   For guidance of those whose appetites are whetted by reference to the good
old days, here is Raff's recipe:
   Saute two or three slices of bacon.  Add a few oysters and saute them.
Add beaten eggs, about three per serving, so that the eggs surround the oysters
and cover the bacon.  Season to taste.
   Serve by turning the pan's contents out upside down on a serving platter.
The browned bacon will then be on top.


   8 April 1987, MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT (Placerville, California), pg. B-6, col.
1:
_A story of the "Hangtown Fry"_
   This story originally ran in a 1948 issue of Gourmet Magazine and was
written by Idwal Jones, a friend of Lloyd Raffetto.  Thank you, Lloyd Raffetto,
for bringing it to our attention.  Raffetto is referred to in the story as
"Doctor."
(Get the GOURMET issue.  Same story, but too long to type--ed.)


   14 October 1993, MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT (Placerville, California), pg. B-2,
col. 2:
_Hangtown Fry_
_Official dish of California?_
(...)
   ...a prospector rushed into the saloon of the El Dorado Hotel...
   The El Dorado Hotel burned down in one of the great fires of 1856 that
leveled most of Hangtown, which by that time had become a growing Gold Rush city
named Placerville.  On the site of the El Dorado Hotel, the large brick Cary
House Hotel was built where it still stands to this day on Placerville's Main
Street.  It is interesting to note that some say the owner of the Cary House
recovered enough gold from under the building to pay for the cost of
restoration.
   Over the years since, Hangtown Fry has continued to have been served at
many of the local resaurants in Placerville.  One of the more famous places was
the Blue Bell Cafe, just a few doors east of the Cary House, which proudly
advertised and served the basic recipe from the late 1930s into the 1970s when
the restaurant was sold.

(Blue Bell Cafe and Cary House Hangtown Fry recipes are here--ed.)