Hollywood, Brownies and the Oscars

Soon the bright spotlights of Hollywood will shine high in the sky and the red carpet will be rolled out below. Cinematic star after star will walk that carpet and then take their seat, hoping that the T.V. cameras will focus on them as the announcer calls their name to come and claim a coveted Oscar.

Yet there are stars who have not sought the limelight or the Award. Some actors, such as Marlon Brando, have even chosen not to attend the Academy Ceremonies to avoid having to accept their award in person.

Another such ceremony-shy celebrity was Katharine (or Kate) Hepburn.  Born into a socially aware New England family, she was not an actress who needed to be discovered, hopefully drinking sodas at Schwab's Drug Store lunch counter.

For you see, her mother, also named Katharine, was a strong willed feminist and a national known suffragist. Along with Margaret Sanger, she co-founded the organization that would become Planned Parenthood.

Her efforts were matched by her husband, Thomas Hepburn, who as a doctor also fought for the right of women to obtain safe and complete health care.

This was not, as you might guess, a household that produced passive Victorian daughters (or actresses). At every meal the six Hepburn children were encouraged by their parents to speak freely and debate any topic of interest. And while current events and individual sporting activities were often the subjects of dinner discussions, there was one topic and dessert that was enjoyed by all – brownies.

But not just any brownies - the brownies of Bertha Palmer, owner of Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel and female extra ordinary.

Like the senior Katharine, Bertha was an early advocate of women’s rights – both in the doctor’s office and at the ballot box. Her active support was vital to the success of the Women’s Building at the Columbian Exposition, right down the boxed lunches served there. 

Palmer knew, as many of the early American feminists did, that mutual conversation and supportive fellowship was critical to the success of a national suffrage movement. If the women gathered at the Fair’s Pavilion could be prompted to linger over luncheon, common ground through conversation could be found.

But how? What better than a great new dessert – one too good to put down (but not too messy to enjoy). And that was the task that Bertha Palmer set for her skilled pastry chefs at the Palmer House.

Their resulting creation was the brownie (see recipe below).  It was that same brownie that Kate’s mother served proudly to her progressive family, along with the story of its origin and purpose. These were the same brownies that Kate would later make for Hollywood friends as she passionately explained why talent and truth matters so much more than mere money or annual awards.

Let’s hope the Academy remembers this culinary lesson wrapped in sweet chocolate as they honor those who stand in the bright lights of fame brownies,  on rich red carpets beneath California's starry skies.

PALMER HOUSE BROWNIES (With Many Thanks to Feminism and Hollywood)

INGREDIENTS

• 1lb 2 oz Semisweet Chocolate
• 1 lb Butter
• 1lb 8oz Granulated Sugar
• 8 oz Cake Flour (King Arthur)
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 4 Whole Eggs
• 1 lb Crushed Walnuts
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Apricot Preserves
• 1 tsp Unflavored Gelatin

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter.
3. Mix sugar, flour and baking powder in separate mixing bowl,
4. Add chocolate butter mixture and mix for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add eggs.
6. Pour onto 9-inch by 12-inch baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle walnuts on top of batter and press down slightly into mixture.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until batter has risen ¼ inch and the edges are crisp.
9. Remove and cool for 30 minutes.
10. In a saucepan, heat and bring to a boil for 2 minutes the water, apricot preserves and gelatin.
11. Brush apricot glaze over cooled brownies with pastry brush.

Enjoy!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Oscar Movies Made in Hotels

Lights, Cameras – HOTELS!

Sunday is Oscars Night and that means nearly endless movie clips, past and present, will be shown. Captured in many of those clips will be some of the world’s greatest hotels. Here are just a few of the locations that helped to make these fine films Oscar winners:  

PARK HYATT TOKYO - Lost in Translation

Sofia Coppola won the Oscar for Best Writing of an Original Screenplay in 2003 in this her second film. Talk about talent! Also much talked about was the bar's stunning view from the 52nd floor high above Japan's capital.

Featured Cuisine

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LA MAMOUNIA MARRAKECH - The Man Who Knew Too Much

Alfred Hitchcock starred Doris Day and James Stewart as an American couple caught up in mystery and intrigue in 1956 in Morocco. The film was awarded an Oscar for Best Song when Doris sang Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) in one of the Hotel's elegant suites. Later the song became her happy-go-lucky musical T.V. theme.

Featured Cuisine

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FONTAINEBLEAU MIAMI BEACH - Goldfinger

Who can forget a young Sean Connery as a handsome and very buff James Bond sunning by the pool. And where was that stunning pool located? Why, at the Fontainebleau, of course, where no special effects were (and are) ever needed. Despite that fact, the film did go on to win the 1965 Oscar for Special Effects.

Featured Cuisine

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GRAMERCY PARK HOTEL - Almost Famous

When William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit) goes on assignment after rock-and-roll's famous for the Rolling Stone Magazine, he encounters not only the rich, the talent and the strange, he also discovers the bohemian hotel that was the New York City home to stars (and near stars) of 1970s. Kate Hudson won her 2001 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in this near documentary film.

Featured Cuisine

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BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL - California Suite

Maggie Smith (who we have all come to love yet again as the reserved Lady Violet in BBC's Downton Abbey series) won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in this 1978 film as an over-the-hill actress who simply had to see-and-be-seen at this famed Hollywood Hotel.

Featured Cuisine

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HOTEL DEL CORONADO - Some Like It Hot

Located on a stunning California beach, this 1959 film is a visual delight as well as a hallmark comedy about romance American style. Equally stunning are Orry-Kelly's costumes for which he won an Oscar. One can only wonder, however, had Marilyn Monroe not been wearing them to, umm, 'their best advantage', would the designer have won his award quite so easily.

Featured Cuisine

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Glenn Close Shines in New Hotel Movie Albert Nobbs

Movies about service within the hospitality industry are few and far between, especially ones that portray the history and heritage of style that still hallmarks all legendary hotels to this day.

And while so many of us in the industry can laugh with understanding while watching the very funny Fawlty Towers, we still might long for a more serious presentation of what service can require.

Now, thanks to the fabulous actress Glenn Close, we can in the new film Albert Nobbs.

Based on a short story by George Moore, we follow the life Albert Nobbs, who is a butler at the Morrison Hotel in 1890’s Dublin, Ireland. But Mr. Nobbs has a secret – he is actually a she.

No, this is not a film about gender preference but rather about the decision to hide and survive for only as a man could “Mr Nobbs” obtain a living wage in conservative Victorian Ireland.

Yet as the years pass Mr. Nobbs serves others so perfectly that “he” almost forgets his/her feelings within and the precious dreams beyond the day-to-day of "may we serve you?".

And who among us with the industry, especially during the rush (and crush) of the holiday season does not know that feeling of so much for others, often so little for ourselves, as we endlessly smile and serve?

This is an outstanding movie – beautiful to watch, touching to see.  It is well worth the viewing and one that the Oscars should acknowledge for Glenn Close captures in a single steady glance the true heart (and price) of service served then and still today.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

The Chiffon Cake Is a Hollywood Star on Oscar's Red Carpet of Fame

It's Oscar season in Hollywood and that means it's time to entertain in a grand style from the board rooms of the powerful to the legendary ballrooms of Tinsel Town's elegant hotels and restaurants. And though all concerned will be seeking that innovative touch of the new and novel that will guarantee the oh so precious press cover, Hollywood also values tradition, especially were food is concerned.

That's the cue for the entrance of a Hollywood favorite - the oh so classic Chiffon Cake. Flashback to 1922 when the very first red carpet ever was rolled out for Douglas Fairbanks at the premier of his silent film, Robin Hood. At the same time a very bored and flustered insurance salesman named Harry Baker was walking the streets of Hollywood and wondering if this was all there was to life.

When the day was done, Baker returned to his very small kitchen to began work on what, to the surprise of his many friends, was his current fascination - baking cakes.  Soon he was as bored with the traditional cookbook cake recipes as he was with the standardized insurance policies he had been trying to sell during the day. 

Finally, like an innovative director who throws away a stale script and starts from scratch, Baker started to play with the recipes, changing and adjusting the ingredients. Finally in 1927 he found what he had been looking for - a change that would create the first new cake recipe in 50 years. 

By replacing the traditional butter in the cake recipe with oil and beating the egg whites seperate from the yolks, he had crafted a cake that was a perfect balance between a light angel food cake and a heavier butter cake.  The texture was rich but delicate. And the flavor seemed to float and linger in the mouth.

Now Baker needed a name. Having lived in Hollywood for a number of years, he knew that a name could make or break a product or a star.  Baker started with a long list of possible names and one by one crossed them off until only one was left: Chiffon!

It described the cake perfectly and matched the feeling of Hollywood at the time. The Great Depression was in full swing and Hollywood was helping the nation forget as fantasy film after fantasy film was rolling off the sets. It was the era when Ginger Roger would gayly dance across the screen to the swirling tunes of Cole Porter. Yes, 'Chiffon' was the perfect name for the new cake.

All Baker needed now were clients and he knew how to get them. He left his hated day job and formed an elite catering company centered around his treasured cake. Insightfully, he hand delivered small sample cakes to a select list of the rich and famous of Hollywood.

Soon, his cake was the must have "mystery" cake of A list party givers. The Derby Restaurant, where the stars of the day gathered to see and be seen, begged him to allow them to serve the cake at their famous establishment. Baker agreed but only if they purchased the cake completely baked from him - the recipe would remain a secret.

Finally as age and success advanced, Baker knew it was time to release the recipe and retire - after all, one can only make so many cakes in a lifetime, no? General Mills was only to willing to purchase the recipe for the now famous cake for an undisclosed amount which was rumored to be very large.  Imagine their shock when they found the unique texture and flavor was simply an easy recipe adjustment! Corporate shock! 

Making the best of the situation, General Mills launched a massive advertising campaign that resulted in their more than recovering their investment and then some.  During the years that followed, a seemingly endless number of delightful variations were created and the rest is culinary history.  And yes, it's still being enjoyed today at the Oscar parties of many saought after Hollywood hostesses. Why not enjoy it at your's? 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011  

Tim Walker Adds Magic to Scarlett Johansson’s New Ads for Moet & Chandon Champagne

Sometimes there is in advertising a perfect match of talent and image.  One such creation was grouping the beautiful Marilyn Monroe with Chanel's No. 5 perfume.

Another such match has been created by Moet and Chandon when they asked Britain’s leading fashion photographer Tim Walker to shoot Scarlett Johansson on location at their stunning 19^th century French estate in Epernay. Designed for both print and film, every image is a glimpse into the elegant yet playful soul of champagne. 

And who better to catch that unique combination than the gifted photographer Tim Walker.  As a child he delighted in the worlds of C.S. Lewis and T.H. White. After working with such artistic legends as Richard Avedon, he shot his first Vogue fashion photos by the time he was just 25 years old.  

His now legendary photographs always seem to capture a suspended moment in time, each with an epic sense of beauty wrapped in both the past and the present.

His elaborate sets and historical locations delicately balance with his choice of items from the everyday. Stunning image after stunning image merge both the fascinating with the uniquely fashionable.

So many thanks to Moet & Chandon for such a blend of skill and creativity – how like their own champagne. With such a flair for originality, it’s no wonder that Moet & Chandon is the official champagne of the 83rd Oscars. One can only hope they invite Tim Walker to attend and ask him to bring his camera all the way to the Red Carpet!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011