Tasty Tuesday-Cook Book Review The Soda Fountain

 

I've written before about my love of the Brooklyn Farmacy

It is without a doubt my favorite restaurant in the New York area, seamlessly blending two things I love vintage and ice cream, into a genuine trip back in time.  When I heard the Farmacy was coming out with a cookbook I knew I needed a copy and immediately pre-ordered from Amazon.

Like the restaurant the book does not disappoint.  The first section is a detailed history of the Soda Fountain's hey day.  Ice cream and Sodas popularity climbed with the rise in popularity of the prohibition movement and somewhat surprisingly from today's stand point, the health food craze.   Ice cream was given out at temperance meetings and Sunday school picnics and touted as a health food. 

 





 

 

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Meanwhile soda water was wildly popular and believed to cure a variety of ills.



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 The two crazes gave birth to the soda fountain and the customers poured in.




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The repeal of prohibition in 1933 with the passage of the 21st amendment re-opened the bar room and dealt a blow to the Soda Fountain.  The Soda Fountain however continued to be popular institution throughout the 1930s and 40s



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but began  to wane in the 1950s.

 

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The advent of television meant more people where having their ice cream at home in front of the TV

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 and soda was being sold in bottles at every gas station and corner shop, eliminating the need for a skilled soda jerk.



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All told the Soda Fountain craze lasted less then a hundred years but it was a fascinating time in American pop culture and the Farmacy's cookbook has way more information on the phenomenon then what I have shared here. 

 

 Of course the real mission of the Brooklyn Farmacy is reviving the scrumptions flavors of the Soda Fountain and it wouldn't be a cook book without recipes for the delicious retro treats they sell.  The book has directions for making  your own versions of the Farmacy's soda syrups, shakes, floats, and my personal favorite, Sundaes.   This weekend I tried the Cookie Monster sundae and it did not disappoint.  I made a few modifications to the original recipe but wound up with something that tasted much like the one I had at the restaurant.

 

Cookie Monster Sundae

 

 

Chocolate chip cookie , I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe

Mint chip ice cream (I used White Face mint chip from Adirondack Creamery which is what they use the fountain)

Hot fudge, I used the smitten kitchen recipe

3 tbsp chopped walnuts

Sweetened whipped cream (1 cup heavy cream beat to stiff peaks with 1 tbsp confectioner sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

Blue sugar sprinkles

 

Crumble the cookie in the bottom of the bowl.   Top the cookie with several scoops of mint chip ice cream and drizzle hot fudge sauce over.  Sprinkle with walnuts and top with a dollop of whipped cream and some blue sugar sprinkles.

 

 

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