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| The Banana Split Book |
by Michael TurbackIn 1904, the bananasplit was created in Latrobe, PA, a small town in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, by David Strickler, an apprentice pharmacist. Strickler enjoyed concocting new sundae creations at the Tassel Pharmacy where he was employed. One day, his dalliance with the tropical banana, sliced down the middle for easier eating, gave way to a flabbergasting fountain creation. Juxtaposing three scoops of different flavors of ice cream on the banana halves, he added three dollops of fruit syrups and the banana split was born. The rest as the say is history. And what a history it is! You can read all about the banana split's significant place in American culture in The Banana Split Book: Everything There Is To Know About America's Greatest Dessert by Michael Turback. This is the first and only book dedicated exclusively to this iconic American dessert on its 100th borthday. Turback, a restauranteur, food historian, and ice cream expert, begins with a fascinating history of the banana and moves on to the brilliant marriage of bananas and ice cream. He details the popularization of this wonderful creation and the subsequent imitators, like Charles Rudolph Walgree, who opened a soda fountain along one wall of his drug store to boost business. When it comes to banana split, Turback leaves no banana unpeeled. It's all here - the history, the folklore, the quirky tidbits, the humorous quotes, and even a little controversy, thanks to the town of Wilmington, Ohio who refuses to relinquish their claim to the creation of the banana split that they hold a yearly festival celebrating their claim to fame. Turback spent over a year researching, traveling, scouring, and tasting his way across America (a.k.a. Banana Splitsville),leaving no diner, luncheonette, restaurant, or soda fountain unexamined. The result of his time-consuming but taste-filled journey - 150 verwsions, or recipes, of the Banana Split from: "The Rocket," a vertical banana split at Pioneer Drug Store in Elk Point, South Dakota, to the "Moneky Love Banana Split," a tempura-fried version at Baleen in Coconut Grove, Florida. From the low brow Bigger Than Bill (Mullen's Dairy Bar, Watertown, WI),to the high brow, Le Banana Split (Isobel, Brooklyn, NY), to the international Samui Banana Split (Blue Lagoon, Ko Samui, Thailand), these recipes prove that while other desserts nerely age, the banana split has been diversifying, updating, and wowing ice cream and banana lovers anew. Paperback Publisher: Camino Books; (March 2004) ; ISBN: 094015983X Purchasing Info RELATED INFORMATION and RECIPES: 10 Unusual Things You Probably Don't Know About Banana and Banana Splits Review by Cindy Sanchez: Wow, I had no idea that my lack of Banana Split knowledge ran so deep! Having grown up savoring the original Walgreen's concoction, I never would have fathomed that there existed so many versions of David Strickler's original creation. Michael Turback does a marvelous job in detailing every curved corner of the Banana Split dish. No weighted down reading here, just good old light-hearted Banana Split history and more...so grab that long-handled spoon and dig in! |
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About the Author: Michael Turback is considered the "top banana" of American iced cream history and folklore. He is also the author of A Month Of Sundaes (Red Rock Press, 2002). For nearly decades he opened "Turback's of Ithaca," an award-winning restaurant, cited bu Bon Appetit Magazine as "the restaurant for sampling the best of the Empire State," and named by Wine enthusiast Magazine as "pne of the 60wine-friendliest restaurants in America. Turback himself was named "Rising Star" in the hospitality industry by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine. A graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, Turback has been a food writer, lecturer, wine judge and internet retailer. He lives in Ithaca, NY. |
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Let's Get Cooking!
