Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin

[Jonathan Lighter]

I can remember eating these cookies in NYC in the mid-'50s.  They were called "black-and-whites" then.  Another kind of "black-and-white" was a chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream.

JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLACK-AND-WHITE--not in DARE
HALF-MOON--not in DARE
HARLEQUIN--not in DARE

I'm adding the "black-and-white" to my web site.

DARE doesn't pay me this huge salary for nothing.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
Anne's Reader Exchange
Paul H., Wheaton.. The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.:
Nov 29, 1979. p. E23 (1 page)

'Look to the Cookie': An Ode in Black and White
By WILLIAM GRIMES. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: May
13, 1998. p. F1 (2 pages)
First page:
The black-and-white has been around forever. Herb Glaser, the baker at Glaser
Bake Shop on First Avenue near 87th Street, said that as far as he knew,
Glaser's has been making them ever since it opened 96 years ago. "When I was
growing up, I'd have two of them for dessert every day," Mr Glaser said. "I was a
fat kid."

Technically, the black-and-white is not a cookie but a drop cake. The batter
resembles the batter for a cupcake, with a little extra flour so that the
dough does not run all over the place when it is dropped, dollop by dollop, on the
baking cheet. "The trick is to add enough flour so the batter holds a shape,
but not so much that the cookie becomes dry, which is a common problem with
the black-and-white," Mr. Glaser said. Once baked, it is iced with chocolate and
vanilla fondant frosting.


What's Black and White And New York as Seinfeld?
Florence Fabricant. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Aug
4, 1999. p. F2 (1 page)


Smart Cookies; Why black-and-whites have assumed deep cultural significance.
Mollv O'Neill. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jan 28,
2001. p. SM39 (12 pages)
Pg. 39:The black-and-white, that frumpy and oversize mainstay of New York
City bakeries and delis, has not endured by dint of its taste. Unlike other
edible icons, like New York cheesecake or bagels, there is no such thing as a
delicious black-and-white cookied. They are either edible or inedible. Fresh-baked
and home-baked are the best.

Pg. 50:Outside New York, cookies with black-and-white icing are cookies with
black-and0white icing. In Boston, where they are called half-moons, and in the
Midwest, where they are known as harlequins, they are considered ordinary and
have been around, say most bakers, "forever."

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