THROWBACK: BROWN DERBY'S BLACK BOTTOM PIE

The Brown Derby was the name of a chain of restaurants in LA. The first and most famous branch opened in 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard and was shaped like a man's derby hat. In 1937 the building moved a block away to 3377 Wilshire Blvd. The Derby had an astounding 60 year run before it finally closed it's doors in 1985. The menu was famous for a number of items including signature cocktails, the Cobb Salad, and Black Bottom Pie. 

If you're wondering what a black bottom pie is, it's a pie with a bottom layer of dark chocolate custard, usually topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. In the 1940's and 50's, home cooks demonstrated frugality by creating basic recipes that could be minimally altered to achieve a variety of different results. In this case a simple vanilla cream pie is transformed into a black bottom pie with the addition of chocolate. The following recipe was lifted from The Brown Derby Cookbook, published in 1949 by Doubleday. 

via Life Magazine, Dec 7, 1953

Brown Derby's Black Bottom Pie
2 tsp (one envelope) unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup milk
1 oz sugar (2 tablespoons sugar)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
3 ounces sweet or semisweet chocolate
1 pint cream, whipped (2 cups whipping cream)
1 (9-inch) baked pie shell

1. Soften gelatin in small amount of cold water for 15 minutes. Bring milk to boil in top of double boiler. 
2. Beat together sugar, salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and egg yolk until light and creamy. Add small amount of milk to egg mixture, blending well. 
3. Return to remaining milk in pan. Cook, stirring, over hot water until mixture barely comes to boil. Remove from heat before boiling point is reached. 
4. Press soaked gelatin free of any excess water and dissolve in hot mixture. Strain through a very fine sieve.
5. Grate 2 ounces chocolate. Add to custard and stir over hot water until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and beat with rotary beater until custard is smooth. 
6. Chill until custard reaches cream-like consistency. Whip 1 cup cream until stiff and fold into custard with remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Fill pre-baked pie shell. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.  
7. Top with remaining whipped cream 1 inch thick (whipped from remaining 1 cup cream). 
8. Remaining chocolate is now shaved into curled spears and stuck in top. Dust with grated chocolate. Makes 1 pie. 

Shell Pastry Dough for Open-Faced Pies, 2 10-inch shells

3/8 c (1/4 cup & 2 tbsp) sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp lemon rind, grated

small pinch salt

1/2 tsp vanilla (bean or extract)

2/3 c butter

2-1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Using an electric mixer to combine egg, lemon rind, salt, vanilla, until creamy. 
2. Knead butter till smooth, and add to egg mixture. Then combine all in the mixer at slow speed until a paste is formed. Beat at high speed for only a moment or two. 
3. Allow the paste to relax, and roll out thin on a lightly floured board, baking the shell at 400 º F for 10-12 minutes. 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOGIES GONE?

Los Angeles architect John Lautner designed a Hollywood coffee shop called Googie's on Sunset strip in 1949.

Googie's Coffee Shop has long since vanished, but the name lives on as a shorthand for a style of extreme modernism that emerged out of Southern California's car culture in the post-war years. A style epitomized by futuristic 'Jetson' type buildings, with a space age, optimistic look to the future. It represented America's dream of a Utopian future and its anticipation of the space era. Whimsical, and sometimes absurd, ultra-modern restaurants, futuristic bowling alleys and drive-in theaters, and roadside gas stations, motels and burger stands sprung up virtually overnight.

Typical Googie elements include sharp, angular lines, upswept roofs, concrete domes, boomerang shapes, huge plate glass windows, natural or false stone walls, and exposed steel I-beams with circle cut-outs. These buildings usually have elaborate, oversized signs featuring bulging letters surrounded by geometric shapes, and are often decorated with starbursts, atomic models or other futuristic ornaments. Rules applied to this style are as follows: it can look organic, but must be abstract; ignore gravity altogether; include multiple structural elements.

Although Googie architectural examples still exist throughout the United States, "progress" means they are being bulldozed at an alarming rate. Go see them before they disappear.

Theme Building, LAX

Pacific's Cinerama Theater - Hollywood, CA

Pick's Restaurant & Coffee Shop. West Los Angeles, CA

Eden Roc Motel. Anaheim, CA

Hody's Restaurant - Los Angeles,CA (La Brea & Rodeo)

Fantasy Motel. Anaheim, CA

TANG TAKES OFF

Tang was first introduced to the American public in 1959 by General Foods. Thanks to clever marketing and advertising, it has long been associated with the space program. But long before its launch into space that made Tang a household name, this artificially colored and sweetened orange-flavored beverage sat languishing on supermarket shelves. Then in 1965 the Gemini astronauts took Tang into outer space and the modern breakfast beverage was dubbed "the drink of the astronauts". To serve Tang instead of OJ for breakfast was to say you were riding high on the wave of progress. It's easy to understand Tang's appeal back in the 1950's and 1960's when you remember that post-WWII Americans put their faith in the march of progress and to scientific and industry ingenuity. New products were being created for modern convenient living and what could signify progress better than nutritional value in a single glassful of Tang?

Tang pie is a light, creamy confection of artificial orange and vanilla flavors, with a scrumptious pale orange glow.

Tang Pie

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 8-oz carton sour cream

1/4 cup Tang instant breakfast drink

1 9-oz carton Cool Whip; thawed

1 10-inch gram cracker crust

Mandarin oranges slices (optional)

1. Combine milk and sour cream; mix well. Stir in Tang (this will congeal rather quickly).
2. Fold in Cool Whip. Add mandarin slices, if desired.
3. Pour in graham cracker crust. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with additional Cool Whip, if desired.