Banana split

This article is about the ice cream dessert. For the US TV series, see The Banana Splits. For the Philippine TV series, see Banana Split (TV series). For the campfire dessert, see Banana boat (food).
Banana split

A traditional banana split as served at Cabot's Ice Cream and Restaurant in Newtonville, Massachusetts
Course Dessert
Place of origin United States
Region or state Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Serving temperature Cold
Main ingredients Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream
Bananas
Pineapple topping
Strawberry topping
Chocolate syrup
Nuts
Whipped cream
Maraschino cherries
Variations Multiple

A banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a boat. A banana is cut in half lengthwise (hence the name) and laid in the dish. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in a row between the split banana. In no particular order, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces are spooned over the strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream, and maraschino cherry.[1]

History

David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy, located at 805 Ligonier Street in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store's soda fountain, invented the banana-based triple ice cream sundae in 1904.[2] The sundae originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of other sundaes, and caught on with students of nearby Saint Vincent College. News of a new variety of sundae quickly spread by word-of-mouth and through correspondence and soon progressed far beyond Latrobe.[3] A popular recipe published in 1907 called for a lengthwise split banana, two cones of ice cream at each end and a spoon of whipped cream in between with maraschino cherry on a top, with one end covered with chopped mixed nuts and another with chopped mixed fruits.[4]

Strickler went on to buy the pharmacy, naming it Strickler's Pharmacy, while keeping his office on a top floor.[5]

The city of Latrobe celebrated the 100th anniversary of the invention of the banana split in 2004 and, in the same year, the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) certified the city as its birthplace.[3] It is the place of an annual Great American Banana Split Celebration and a keeper of the original soda fountain where the first now famous throughout the world confection was made.[6]

The Great American Banana Split Celebration is held throughout the downtown Latrobe area in late August with food, fun and events for kids and adults to enjoy. In November 2014 the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program, after managing the event for 2 years, handed over the organization of the event to the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Community Chamber of Commerce.[7]

As served at the Hilton Chicago (2007)

Wilmington, Ohio also claims an early connection. In 1907, restaurant owner Ernest Hazard wanted to attract students from Wilmington College during the slow days of winter. He staged an employee contest to come up with a new ice cream dish. When none of his workers were up to the task, he split a banana lengthwise, threw it into an elongated dish and created his own dessert. The town commemorates the event each June with its own Banana Split Festival.[8]

Walgreens is credited with spreading the popularity of the banana split. The early drug stores operated by Charles Rudolph Walgreen in the Chicago area adopted the banana split as a signature dessert. Fountains in the stores proved to be drawing cards, attracting customers who might otherwise have been just as satisfied having their prescriptions filled at some other drug store in the neighborhood.[2]

Banana split pie

The banana split pie was created by Janet Winquest, a 16-year-old resident of Holdrege, Nebraska. In 1952, she won a $3,000 prize in Pillsbury's Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest for the recipe.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Baggett, Nancy (June 6, 2007). "Late, But Great, Banana Split Centenary".
  2. 1 2 Turback, Michael (March 2004). The Banana Split Book. Camino Books. ISBN 094015983X
  3. 1 2 Steele, Bruce (August 25, 2004). "With a Cherry on Top-Pitt fetes alums creation of banana split". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved on September 3, 2007.
  4. ↑ Merck's Report: A Practical Journal of Pharmacy as a Profession and a Business. Ed. by Theodore Weicker. Volume 16, June 1907, p. 164.
  5. ↑ Smith, Rachel (June 22, 2006). "Latrobe's banana split a sweet 'Taste of America'". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved on September 3, 2007.
  6. ↑ Federoff, Stacey (August 20, 2013). "Latrobe to go bananas over split". TribLive. Trib Total Media. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  7. ↑ GLLV (November 25, 2014). "GLLV Chamber to take the reins on Great American Banana Split Celebration". GLLV. Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Chamber of Commerce.
  8. ↑ Hunter, David (Oct 1, 2003). Shifra Stein's Day Trips from Cincinnati: Getaways Less Than Two Hours Away. Globe Pequot. p. 134. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  9. ↑ The National Rural Letter Carrier; National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, 1952; Volume 51, p.257.
  10. ↑ Farm Journal; Farm Journal Incorporated, 1953; Volume 77, Issue 11, p.138.

External links

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