Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-05-31
THE RISE OF PASTRY
by Frederic J. Haskin

1 =
New York. May 31e-New York In
now in the grip Of pastry wave neo-
ond only To the crime wave In scope
and power. Never has the demand
for pastry been 40 great; never the
supply so conspicuously In evidence.
window displays of glittering pas
tries. I'm bewildering variety OF col
ors. designs and nationslities. tempt
tho passnrby ON every hand; new
pastry shops are sprlnging up all
over the city, and even the drug
stores now serve cream puffs and
chocolate eclafrg.
Consequently, many public-spiritea
citizens who are already conslderably
worried about the trend of the race
are i'm panic Of apprehension
What. they demand gloomliy, can he
expected of a people which goes IN
for such gastronOmic orgies? How
can we hope to develop a race oi
supermen on maCarOous and Boston
cream pie? Is II not time. they sug
| gest, that q new and powerful re.
| form organization he formed to com
bat this pastry eating vice which Is
surely destined 10 turn tho good
natured, but indomitable. American
people into a dolorious tribe Of dys
peptlcs?
Pastry is apparently a popular sub
stitute for liquor. At any rate, i
is estimated that ita consumption ha'
increased 33t per cent since th'
passago Of tho eighteenth amendment
Farmers are not the only sturd,
folk who eat pie for breakfast nova
days. New York business mon per
form that courageous feat also. a
lany early riser can Ree by gazing il
tho giant window Of one Of thOs
famous restaurants. SO numerou
throughout Manhattan. that lryi
Cobb has likoned to n goldfish bow
Furthermore, tho cold slab Of break
fast pic is merely n drop in tho Ne'
Workers. daily bucket of pastry IA
tiona. From this mild beginning, n
goes bravefully on 10 doughnut
other monumental pastries. Th
young man in Stevenson's story {
The Suicide Club who had to eat r
many cream tarts has lost his pathe
tic charm for us. There are too man
pastry fiends in New York who dali
, outdo his spectacular record und'
no sinister compulsion at all.
g All Hall tho D0ughnut.
, Before the war. dourhnuts WEI
: comparatively scarce here. The
q were sold largely by pushcarts yer
2 doris in far downtown districts. or
0 German bakeries up in the Bron
u They were totally ignored by n
best hotel menus. Then the Salvatic
Army started feeding doughnuts
2 the doughboys, and then the gre
revival started. New York Sc No
D fun Of tiny street kitchens which ha'
70 capitalized tho salvation Army id
rs and are selling coffee and doughnu
In to crowds Of appreciativs patrons.
The sudden inCreas SO In the dena
- for pastry. however. Is noticed pri
cipally in the large hotels. The ch
in one such establishment who for
= erly had q daily pastry record
=. 900 pieces now turns out 5000
- day, or more than 10000 sepsrs
- pastries n week. His annual total
." somewhere around the three MILL
70 mark He could, he believes. cas-
y outline the Equator with the choc
at late eclairs he has made.
ke IIe IS a French chef, and he
naturally prejudiced In favor of Freu
t. pastry. but he is willing to admit II
h. America has made a noble contrib
ton TO the pastry internationale
Boston cream pie. Always luscio
y this delicacy Is now likewise becomi
on exquisite in the hands Of the arti
ey In cream and sugar who work In
all Kitchens Of the big hotels.
~ 80 much smarter than apple p.
in to an iridescent piece OF the Bos
of variety. and yet It Is always
n apple for which we have the m
or demand. 1t Is. Of course, the diet'
we cornerstone Of your republic.
Why? II lacks distinction. It is
n We cannot beautify IL for It becor
.ed sOggy. The lemon meringue, yes.
can make attractive. but with
VI apple one can do nottingham"
for The making Of French pastry
he become one Of the most import
=, functions OF hotel housekeeping,
.o,, the pastry cooks have lately de-
~ oped all the symptoms of the
artistic temperament. Their kitch
'n- electrical appliances and just the RI
degree Of temperature. They n
es- have the best raws materials 70 "
ier' with-special fiours and sugar
Sc enormous quantities Of fresh el
en- Incidentally, they must have eI
vas nous salaries. for they are by
a means ordinary cooks. They are
ee- sculptors. painters and designers,
occasionally inventors OF some
AXE and elaborate pastry which earn
small fortune.
for Pastry royalties are worth wOrl
in for. One pastry inventor. who Is
Ter son Of an Iowa confectioner, DIR
10 more than $4,000 a week for
our simple invention. the Eskimo pie.
lis was wise enough 10 have his
pes protected by patents. and as a re.
1st he Is now on the road to becOmIn
No multi-millionaire.