A Glimpse of the Culinary Adventures of Old Hollywood

Kross Mayıs 14, 2022

"Santa Claus has the right idea: visit people once a year." ~ Victor Borge

Don't get me wrong. I love my family. However, the month of December, no matter one's spiritual beliefs or family traditions, is fraught with such a heady mixture of anticipation, ephemeral hopes, memories of past joys and pain, and just plain effort, that the day after Christmas is almost welcome with its mixture of exhaustion and ennui.

December 26th marks a day to spend with family, a return to work, and in some shopaholics, prompts one more mad dash to the mall to return or cash in those material goods gleaned from the day before. Some of us, after visiting with family members, gladly count ourselves among the less hardy souls who find some solace in the week-long "limbo" that seems to occur after Christmas and before the New Year.

A bit of reflection will teach us one more time that the elusive "perfect gift" isn't necessarily what the special people in our lives need. The real needs that do require attention should be pretty obvious when one looks around the living room.Some of us may be in serious need of help cleaning up the debris from the Christmas wrappings that still may litter the living room. Oh, and while you're at it, be sure that you don't experience the unalloyed pleasure of finding those missing game parts that somehow went missing by stepping on them in your stocking feet. The oath you make when discovering this significant artifact, could go against you next year in Santa's Naughty or Nice list.

While you're sorting items for the recycling bin, you also might want to mull over ways to salvage what's left of the Holiday feast and transforming that decimated turkey, roast or tofurkey into an appropriate meal for the houseful of people visiting you.

Sure, some of us turn reflexively to the Food Network, or have Mom's old Joy of Cooking to leaf through for ideas to feed the herd at home over vacation. More ambitious cooks might pick up Julia Child's French Chef Cookbook or seek out the sound advice of the mythical Betty Crocker or the practical Fanny Farmer for inspiration, but, for those of us who are classic movie fans, there are other, less traditional sources of culinary stimulation.

One of the pleasures of exploring cinema history is discovering forgotten creative people who made the movies golden in the studio era. Surprisingly, I've also discovered that in the 1930s, as Hollywood became a dazzling corporate behemoth that shaped the cultural life of the nation, several books were published to meet the alleged demand of curious public for household hints from the stars. It wasn't enough for movie favorites to weave dreams of perfection on screen for audiences.

Men, and particularly women, also had to be "just folks" on the home front. Midgie Knight's Hollywood Hundred: Famous Recipes of the Movie Stars by—who else?—Midgie Knight, burst upon an unsuspecting world in 1932. Another author, a personage with the unlikely name of Delight Evans, the editor of Screenland magazine, brought out an equally fascinating glimpse into the kitchen adventures of the glamorous few when she gathered Hollywood Recipes: Food Secrets of the Movie Stars in 1938.

Looking these over, these little books present actors and actresses of the studio era as paragons of domesticity, though I do wonder if, given the decidedly basic state of most American's culinary tastes and wallets during the '30s, how these refugees from the Escoffier Society came across in this attempt at furthering the illusion that no one, especially a female, could be considered fit for stardom without a strong home life as well as an all consuming career. These tomes must've had the publicity boys at the studios working overtime to crank out the recipes, some of which are priceless, while others make one wonder about how gullible Hollywood really thought Americans were back then.

My favorite line from Delight Evans' book claims that these recipes were alleged to be "how Hollywood eats for health and beauty". Here are a few samples of the recipes in this book, to give you a flavor of the kind of cooking described. You be the judge about the healthy aspects of the dishes, and see if you think that the Star really seems to be paired with the appropriate repast:

Some of the recipes of the stars, according to Delight Evans are below. Click on the two thumbnails below to see examples of the unlikely recipes associated with Gable, Davis and Warren William:

Joan Blondell -- Chicken Chop Suey
Olivia DeHavilland -- Angel Cake
Gail Patrick--Avocados with Crab Meat
Gladys Swarthout -- Turban of Fish
Fay Wray -- Sweetbread and Mushroom Patties
Billy and Bobby Mauch -- Chocolate Pudding
Gene Raymond -- Cheese Pudding
Pat O'Brien -- Spinach Ring
Fernand Gravet -- Apple Snow Pudding
Anita Louise -- Kidney Saute Madeira
Eleanore Whitney -- Fried Celery Hearts
Gale Sondergaard -- Danish Apple Cake
Hugh Herbert -- Chili
Dorothy Lamour -- Deviled Oysters on Half Shell
Errol Flynn -- Irish Beef Pasties
Jeanette MacDonald -- Waffles
Claudette Colbert -- Crepes Suzette

My two favorite recipes are from two very different Crawfords (or are they so different after all?):

Broderick Crawford's Apple Cabbage Slaw

Brod Crawford, no doubt contemplating whether or not he should add more cider vinegar to his cole slaw.

There's something so fitting about pairing Mr. Crawford, whose talented bull-in-the-china-shop manner always interests me, with a cabbage. The only other item that might have been more appropriate would be a cauliflower.

Ingredients:
1 small head, green cabbage
2 carrots
1 apple
2 hard boiled eggs
1 small onion
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup prepared dressing

Slice cabbage very thin and crisp in ice water. Chop onions fine, grate carrots and slice apple in thin wedges. Cube the eggs. Mix with the drained cabbage and add dressing which has been combined with cream. If desired, thin wedges of pineapple may be added.

Joan Crawford's Turkey and Noodles Alfredo

Joan Crawford and a discerning companion--perhaps sharing recipes?

Ingredients:
1 package noodles
1/2 pound sweet butter
1/2 pound grated cheese
Breast of turkey slices
1/2 cup thick cream Olive oil
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
Paprika

Boil noodles in salted water. Drain well. Send to table in chafing dish. Add butter and grated cheese to noodles. Cook, stirring and lifting constantly with wooden spoon and fork, until noodles are smooth and creamy. Just before serving, pour in, slowly, 1/2 cup thick cream. Blend thoroughly. Serve over turkey slices about 1/2 inch thick.

For turkey slices; heat olive oil in heavy skillet. Beat egg yolk slightly with 2 tablespoons milk. Dip slices in flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika) then in beaten egg and then in flour.
Fry in olive oil to pale golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Keep hot until noodles are ready. One slice of turkey per person should be sufficient.

I love the part about "One slice of turkey per person should be sufficient." Maybe Joan really did write this recipe. Though how she kept that figure with the egg and cream in this one is a mystery.

Perhaps your holiday festive philosophy is more geared to that of W.C. Fields, who once observed that "Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven." Here are some suggestions for vintage cocktails named for famous Hollywood personalities, some of which you might like to try if giving a New Year's Eve party.

While you might want to reserve the "Shirley Temples", with the ginger ale, grenadine, maraschino cherry for the designated drivers, you can, allegedly relish a few pops just like some screen legends, according to several vintage articles on imbibing like a star. A "Douglas Fairbanks Cocktail" supposedly used to be served in better restaurants in the twenties. Like Doug, it consisted of a generous dash of Plymouth gin, French Vermouth, and a zesty orange and lemon peel to give it some bounce.

Filmmaker Preston Sturges outside of The Players, the money pit where the director and bon vivant entertained the Hollywood crowd in style (it is believed to be Myagi's restaurant today). [photo source: the lady eve's reel life]

A "Johnny Weissmuller" concoction asks for a splash of gin, light rum for buoyancy, and a nice blend of tart lemon juice, powdered sugar, grenadine to help you swing from your own jungle. One of the more intriguing drinks created, no doubt, by a bored bartender during Lent was called a "Mae West", which called for a potent amount of brandy, an egg yolk, a generous topping of powdered sugar and cayenne pepper for garnish. I guess the powdered sugar was to mimic Mae's famous platinum tresses. Of course, like the lady herself, the cayenne adds that some fiery wit to the elixir.

Two fairly recent books that explore the real world of the legendary restaurants of tinsel town back in the day are Hollywood Du Jour: Lost Recipes of Legendary Hollywood Haunts(1993) by Betty Goodwin and Chasen's: Where Hollywood Dined -- Recipes and Memories also by Ms. Goodwin for the Angel City Press. Goodwin writes with fondness about some of LA's eighteen best remembered restaurants and presents their best recipes, such as figs Romanoff, along with memories of Peter Lorre at Scandia, Elizabeth Taylor at Chasen's, Lucy and Desi at the Cocoanut Grove or Orson Welles at holding court at Ma Maison. It's a lovely excursion with beautiful illustrations to a more relaxed time of politically incorrect cuisine in Hollywood.

Betty Goodwin presents the lost world of Los Angeles with a particular appreciation for the style of the people and their city, the art deco and mid-century modern design of the buildings, as well as the good food and good times that she describes in detail. More can be read about her books at Angel City Press . The oddly entertaining recipe books of Midgie Knight and Delight Evans are long out of print, but may occasionally be found second-hand.

After this gustatory pilgrimage through the imagined and real past, I'm feeling as though reading about all the eating and drinking in Old Hollywood has left me pretty full for the moment. I'll have to unearth some of those vintage cookbooks again to look for some "satisfying" diet recipes from the stars. In the meantime, I'll be making some turkey stock for tomorrow's soup for my family. Simple, familiar, and real, but just as satisfying when enjoyed in the glow of the Christmas tree with the family and some fascinating books about those multi-talented movie people.