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The Palace of Fine Arts, from
_Splendors of the Panama-Pacific Exposition_.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach |
The Challenge: #20 -- Foods served at notable events in history
What kind of food was
served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth? What did Benjamin Franklin eat at
the Constitutional Convention? Find a food item that was served at a notable
event in history, research the recipe, and recreate the dish.
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The Tower of Jewels, from _Splendors of the Panama-
Pacific Exposition_. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach |
This year is the 100
th
anniversary of one of the most iconic events in California history: the 1915
Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
Held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the Pan-Pacific Exposition was
California's message to the world that the city of San Francisco, and the
entire state, had completely recovered from the catastrophic earthquake and
fire in 1906, and that California had not only recovered, but surpassed its
previous accomplishments to become a cultural, economic and technological
leader of the United States, on a par with New York City, Boston, Chicago, and
other eastern cities. The fair lasted an
entire year, and the city was transformed by the beautiful buildings, gardens,
walkways, public art, and evening light shows, not to mention the exciting and
wonderful international exhibitions in each of the pavilions. The fairgrounds became the most fashionable
place to be, and the fair was absorbed into San Francisco life and California
culture to an extent that, when it came time to close the fair and remove all
the buildings and gardens, Californians felt like the heart of the city was
being destroyed. Residents protested the
removal of the buildings – which had been built of plaster and chicken wire
over wooden frames, and never intended to last more than a year – and succeeded
in saving the Palace of Fine Arts and the Temple of Art, which were kept in
their original locations until several years ago when they needed to be
re-created in concrete due to deterioration.
The re-created buildings are still there, part of an art museum complex,
and are used for countless photographs and concerts to this day.
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The Tower of Jewels at Night, from _Splendors of the Panama-
Pacific Exposition_. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach |
The fair was so popular
that souvenirs of all kinds were created, from replica glass "jewels"
to imitate those decorating the Tower of Jewels, to illustrated picture books –
one of which I have! – to special "Exhibition" cookbooks. I decided to make one of the recipes in the
souvenir cookbook,
The Pan-Pacific Cookbook: Savoury Tidbits from the
World's Fare, which features international recipes as well as ones
apparently created especially for the Exposition. This recipe is on the
Pan-Pacific Exposition website. The book is available for
free in PDF form on OpenLibrary, and available in paperback re-print for $13 or
so on Amazon.
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