The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-06-03
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC ,. HAsKrN. Dresser.
Washington, d. c.
THE RISE OF PASTRY

I
second only to the crime wave in
scope and power. Never has the de-
mand for pastry been 50 great never
I the supply so conspicuously In @V1-
dence. Window displays OF glitterlng
pastries. in a bewildering variety OF
| colors, designs and nationalities, tempt
| the passerby on every hand; new
pastry shops are springing up all over
the city, and even the drug stores now
| serve cream puffs and chocolate
eclairs.
! Consequently. many public-spirdte1
citizens who are already considerably
worried about the trend of the race,
are in a panic of apprehension. What,
! they demand gloomily, can be ex-
pected of a people which goes in Tor
such gastronomic orgies? How can
we hope to develop race OF super
men on macaroons and Boston cream
pie? Is it not time, they suggest,
that a new and powerful reform or
ganization be formed to combat this
pastry eating vice which is surely des-
tined to turn the good-natured but
indomitable American people into
dolorous tribe of dyspeptics2
Pastry is apparently a popular sub
stitute for liquor. At any rate, it is
estimated that its consumption has in
creased 33 u per cent since the pass
age Of the eighteenth amendment.
Farmers are not the only sturdy
folk who eat pie for breakfast now
adays. New York business men per-
form that courageous feat also, as any
early riser can see by gazing in the
giant window of one of those famous
restaurants, so numerous turnout
Manhattan, that Irwin Cobb has
likened to goldfish bowl. Further
more, the cold slab of breakfast pie
is merely drop in the New Workers.
daily bucket of pastry rations- From
this mild beginning he goes bravely
on to doughnuts, eclairs, spice cake,
napo4eons and other monumental
pastries. The young man in Steven
sons story OF The Suicide Club who
had to eat so many cream tarts has
lost his pathetic charm for us. There
are too many pastry fiends in New
York who daily Guido his spectacular
record under no sinister compulsion
at all.
All Hail the Doughnut.
Before the war, doughnuts were
comparatively scare here. They were
sold largely by pushcart vendors in
the far downtown districts, or by Ger
man bakeries up in the Bronx They
were totally ignored by the best hotel
menus. Then the Salvation Army
started feeding doughnuts to the
douEhboys, and the great revival
started. New York is now full OF tiny
street kitchens which have capitalized
the Salvation Army idea and are SELL
ing coffee and doughnuts to crowds or
appreciative patrons.
The sudden increase in the demand
for pastry. however, is noticed prln-
cipalIy in the large hotels. The cher
in one such establishment who for
merly had n daily pastry record of
5000 pieces now turns out 5000
day. or more than $4,000 separate
pastries week. His annual total
is somewhere around the three mil
lion mark. He could, he believes
easily outline the equator with the
chocolate ecIairs he has made
He is a French chef, and he is nat
urally prejudiced in favor of French
pastry, but he is willing to, admit that
America has made noble contribu-
ton to the pastry interna tionale In
Boston cream pie Always luscious,
this delicacy is now likewise becoming
exquisite in the hands of the artists in
cream and. sugar who work in the
kitchens of the big hotels.
so much smarter than apple pie"
he exclaimed approvingly, pointing to |
an iridescent piece of the Boston va |
riety, land yet always it is the apple |
for which we have the most demand. !
1t is, of course, the dietetic corner
stone OF your republic. But why? 1t |
lacks distinction. 1t is dull. We can |
not beautify it for it becomes soggy- |
The lemon meringue, yes, we can
make attractive, but with the apple |
one can do nOthing-bahi"
The making of French pastry has
become one of the most important l
functions of hotel housekeeping, and /
the pastry cooks have lately developed /
all the symptoms of the true artistic 1
Their kitchens must be |
spotless, with all the latest electrical /
appliances and just the right degree /
of temperature. They must have the
best raw materials to work with
special flours and sugar and enormous
quantities of fresh eggs. Incidentally,
they must also have enormous SAL
aries, for they are by no means ordi-
nary cooks. They are also sculptors,
ally inventors of some new and elab-
crate pastry which earns a small for
tune.
Pastry royalties are worth working
for One pastry inventor, who is the
son of an Iowa confectioner, draws
more than $4,000 a week for his
simple invention the Eskimo pie. He
was wise enough to have his idea pro-
tected by patents, and as a result he
is now on the road to becoming a
multi-millionaire.
Lemon Pie vs. Red Wine.
AS an illustration of the pulling
power Of pastry, the above French
chef tells the story of a small Brook
Ign hotel which began to run down
hill at a fast rate after closing its once
cured a chef who could make mar
velous lemon meringue pie He inn
installed the pie permanent
~ on the business mans luncheon
table d'hOte, and thereby won back
the ma jOrity of the customers he had
lost The pie is now more than hold
ing its own against a fair grade of
red wine which is being freely served
in a nearby competitive restaurant.
Another case in point is that of a
boarding house on the upper West
side. which is always crowded with
ooarders in spite of its many disad-
Tantages-
It's the fruit rolypolies and pies"
sighed one feminine boarder recently,
n explaining her persistent amiabil-
ty in the face of various vicissitudes.
They've got an actual hold on me- 1
ion't believe I could give them up.
The soup is watery; the meat is tough
Ind greasy; the butter is butterine,