Legal Punch.

The tricky issue of what to serve in the way of party drinks during Prohibition in the USA was solved by either breaking the law, getting around a legal loophole, - or by being as imaginative as possible with fruit juice.

In September 1930 an example was led from the top, with a little book called Prohibition Punches by Roxana B. Doring, wife of the one-time Commissioner of Prohibition, and subsequently Administrator of Industrial Alcohol.

There were contributions for several “nationally-known” women and famous hostesses. Here is a selection, ready for your alcohol-free Christmas parties.

From Mabel Walker Willebrandt, former Assistant United States Attorney General, whose nickname was Prohibition Portia:

Portia’s Punch.

To one small bottle of red Concord California pure concentrated grape juice or Concord loganberry, add two bottles light-colourd ginger ale, one lemon sliced thin, half cut chopped mint leaves. Serve very cold.

From Mrs Laura Volstead Lomen, daughter of the author of the Volstead act:

Fruit Punch.

One can grated pineapple, three cups boiling water, one cup tea freshly make, juice six lemons, juice ten oranges, one quart strawberry, currant, or grape juice, one bottle Apollinaris water, one quart of sugar or three cups of syrup of thirty five degrees, and four quarts of water.

Grate the pineapple and boil with the water twenty minutes. Strain thoroughly through jelly bags, press out all possible; let it cool and add rest of fruit juice, tea, and syrup. If sugar be used, add a pint of water and let boil six or eight minutes, cool before using. Add Apollinaries water just before serving. If possible make punch a few hours before serving and chill. Strawberries, mint leaves or sliced bananas may be added.”

And from Mrs. Seymour Lowman, wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury:

Meridian Mansions Punch.

Sixteen ounce bottle of rose lime juice, sixteen ounce bottle of orange juice, two bottles of ginger ale, juice of twenty-four lemons, sugar if desired. Chill by adding lemon water ice made in freezer.

Quotation for the Day …

Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special!  How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer.... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously? 

Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

An unfortunate invitation.

January 17

January 17 1920 was the first new day of that Noble Experiment, Prohibition. It was also the twenty-first birthday of that less-than-noble person, Al Capone – which I find an amusing irony or synchronicity for some reason. I wonder if his birthday was marked with an income-producing epiphany?

‘They’ say that no-one is all bad, even amongst the baddest. Al Capone did start up an impressive Soup Kitchen in Chicago during the Depression, and if, as his critics said, it was merely to improve his image amongst the working folk, then at least some poor hungry souls got a feed. Others say that there is honor amongst thieves. An example of this honorable behaviour took place at a banquet held by Scarface himself in May, 1929, which we have previously featured here. To summarise the story: Big Al had gotten wind of a plan by three of his men – Scalise, Anselmi, and Giunta to betray him. He invited them to a banquet. He feasted them with sumptuous food and wine and good-old gangster bonhomie. Then he eliminated them in a most spectacular fashion right there at the table. The reports vary, but most involve clubbing them severely around the head then shooting them for good measure. Doubtless, the unequivocal message was understood by any other wannabe-heads of The Outfit that may have been present at the dinner.

Dreadful things can happen at banquets - not just if your host is a gangster with a grudge, and not of just of the prosaic food poisoning kind. Dining history is full of spectacular dinner incidents that have nothing directly to do with the food. A couple of examples will have to suffice.

The traditional belief about the astronomer Tycho Brahe – that he died in 1601 of a ruptured bladder caused by his unwillingness to appear impolite by leaving a banquet table to answer a call of nature - has been overturned by recent evidence that mercury poisoning was the cause of his death. The story still hangs together however, as he almost certainly self-administered medication for the bladder obstruction triggered at the banquet – and the medication of the time contained mercury.

Poor, popular ‘mad’ King George III attacked his son and heir, the future George IV at a state dinner in November 1788, bashing his head against the wall to the accompaniment of an unintelligible tirade. We now believe that King George was suffering from a disease called porphria which can sometimes cause bouts of mental instability, but we also now know that the Number One Son was an unpleasant, disrespectful and greedy man who would have tried the heart of any parent. The dinner table can be the place where it all comes out!

Napoleon broke the news of his intention to divorce his beloved Josephine at the beginning of dinner, citing his country (which needed an heir) as her competitor. His timing hardly seems fair, for with servants scurrying about she was forced to restrain her reaction until the meal was over, whereupon she fell apart, her reason fled, and passed out.

There are many more stories of murder and betrayal most foul occurring at dinner – and completely opposite stories too of wonderful opportunities and gifts, but these must wait for another day, for these blog stories are supposed to be short.

Suffice it to say, as parents often do, if there is any justice in the world, you reap what you sow. Al Capone ended up in Alcatraz for one set of his sins, finally dying a few years later from syphilis for another set of his sins. I don’t know when he succumbed to a life of crime, but perhaps on his twenty-first birthday he was a fresh-faced young man enjoying a family party. With Prohibition just starting, the women’s pages of the newspapers on this very day in 1920 were already tackling the problem of how to cook without using any forbidden products. From the Appleton Daily Post in Wisconsin on January 17, 1920, here are a couple of retrospective birthday dishes for our anti-hero.

‘As the last rites are being said over John Barleycorn, the question arises as to what substitutes for brandy and wine can be used in making good fruit cakes, cookies, mince pies and chafing dish creations. … The following recipes illustrate the use of fruit juice as substitutes for brandy and wine:

While Fruit Cake.
Cream 3/4 cup butter, add one and one half cups sugar, three egg-yolks beaten thick. Mix two and one half cups flour with two teaspoons of baking powder. Sift twice. Mix one and one half pounds seeded raisins, one pornd currants, one half cup citron, one cup candied orange peel, dredge with flour mixture then add. ¼ cup of cream, ½ teaspoon nutmeg. Add ( ¾ cup of brandy) grape juice used as substitute, to butter sugar and egg mixture then add flour and fruit and mix. Fold in the whites of three eggs and bake in buttered pans from 40 to 60 minutes.

Lobster a La Newberg.
Two and one half cups of lobster, three teaspoons of butter one half tea spoonful of salt, dash of cayenne, one cup citron, one half cup of sherry and brandv mixed, (fruit juice used as a. substitute) Saute the lobster in the butter, add cream and egg-yolks, also seasoning. When boiling add fruit juice.

Tomorrow’s Story …

Just for Fun.

Quotation for the Day …

Champagne will not a dinner make,
Nor caviar a meal
Men gluttonous and rich may take
Those till they make them ill
If I've potatoes to my chop,
And after chop have cheese,
Angels in Pond and Spiers's shop
Know no such luxuries.

Mark Lemmon.

A long experiment.

Today, December 5th …

The “Noble Experiment” of Prohibition ended on this day in 1933 in the USA. For 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, 32½ minutes, the country had been officially “dry”.

Unofficially of course, it was pretty well as wet as ever. The experiment did not so much fail as backfire, and some historians believe alcohol consumption actually increased, particularly among the young. Alcohol was (and is) closely woven into the fabric of society, and powerful social forces ensured that society did not miss its favourite commodity. Against a background of great hypocrisy there was “widespread disregard” for the law, assisted by increased corruption, large-scale organised crime, sheer human ingenuity –and a few legal loopholes. Alcohol, for example, could be prescribed for medical reasons, so doctors became popular house-guests!

The actual number of drinking establishments probably doubled during Prohibition, and illegal “speakeasies” were not so choosy about legal drinking age. Homes became distilleries, with spirits being made from anything and everything fermentable. One very brilliant piece of marketing saw the sale of a “grape brick” of compressed dried fruit being sold with an attached packet of yeast which carried a “warning” that if it was added to the grape juice, “fermentation might result”.

A few restaurants survived what was the death-knell for most. Some indicated the availability of alcohol to well-known patrons by a discreet notice called an “Entre Nous” (Between Ourselves) slipped into the spine of the menu book. One such was the Biltmore, which listed Cocktail Los Angeles, Solera Theresa, Montebello, Crement Brut Chatreuse 1869, Fine Champagne Courvoisier V.V.O. 1848, and Perfection Scotch on its little note.

In 1919, the chef (Victor Hertzler) of the Hotel St Francis in San Francisco had produced a cookbook. Many of the recipes contained alcohol, so could not have been served for almost 14 years.

Victoria punch. Two pounds of sugar, two quarts of water, and the juice of six oranges, mixed. Then add a small glass of rhum, a small glass of kirsch, and a glass of sauternes. Freeze. Serve in glasses, covered with a meringue made with the white of three eggs and one-half pound of sugar.

A “Sorbet au Kirsch” served at the Repeal Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York on the night of the 5th must have been similar to this frozen punch. The Old Foodie will send the full menu on request!

Tomorrow … The food which is also a toy.