I have done a considerable amount of searching today about the Monte Cristo
sandwich. I, for some reason, thought that this was cooked by deep-frying.
Most of the recipes I have seen are pan or griddle fried in butter with only
a few that call for deep-frying. I have not been successful in discovering
the origin of this sandwich let alone what the original method was. The
variations are astounding! Can anyone help with the history of this
sandwich? Thanks!

Charlie

Charles Gifford wrote:
>
> I have done a considerable amount of searching today about the Monte Cristo
> sandwich. I, for some reason, thought that this was cooked by deep-frying.
> Most of the recipes I have seen are pan or griddle fried in butter with only
> a few that call for deep-frying. I have not been successful in discovering
> the origin of this sandwich let alone what the original method was. The
> variations are astounding! Can anyone help with the history of this
> sandwich? Thanks!

Charlie,
I googled it and this is what I came up with.
It seems to be a variation on the Croque Monsieur.
It appears in the 1940's and 50's in So. Calif.
It is not deep fried, but fried in butter according
to the earliest known recipes. See these sites:

http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFac...iches&fid=7541

http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food...ml#montecristo

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...ichHistory.htm

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
> Charles Gifford wrote:
> >
> > I have done a considerable amount of searching today about the Monte
Cristo
> > sandwich. I, for some reason, thought that this was cooked by
deep-frying.
> > Most of the recipes I have seen are pan or griddle fried in butter with
only
> > a few that call for deep-frying. I have not been successful in
discovering
> > the origin of this sandwich let alone what the original method was. The
> > variations are astounding! Can anyone help with the history of this
> > sandwich? Thanks!
>
> Charlie,
> I googled it and this is what I came up with.
> It seems to be a variation on the Croque Monsieur.
> It appears in the 1940's and 50's in So. Calif.
> It is not deep fried, but fried in butter according
> to the earliest known recipes. See these sites:
>
>
http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFac...iches&fid=7541
>
> http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food...ml#montecristo
>
> http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...ichHistory.htm
>
> Kate
> --

Thank you Kate, these seem to back-up what I had found earlier. I do wonder
though where all the deep-fried variations come from. Other than that it
seems that there is no specific answer. I do find the "Brown Derby" tie-in
interesting.

Charlie

Charles Gifford extrapolated from data available...

>
> "Kate Connally" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Charles Gifford wrote:
>> >
>> > I have done a considerable amount of searching today about the
>> > Monte
> Cristo
>> > sandwich. I, for some reason, thought that this was cooked by
> deep-frying.
>> > Most of the recipes I have seen are pan or griddle fried in butter
>> > with
> only
>> > a few that call for deep-frying. I have not been successful in
> discovering
>> > the origin of this sandwich let alone what the original method was.
>> > The variations are astounding! Can anyone help with the history of
>> > this sandwich? Thanks!
>>
>> Charlie,
>> I googled it and this is what I came up with.
>> It seems to be a variation on the Croque Monsieur.
>> It appears in the 1940's and 50's in So. Calif.
>> It is not deep fried, but fried in butter according
>> to the earliest known recipes. See these sites:
>>
>>
> http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFac...ase_vch=Sandwi
> ches&fid=7541
>>
>> http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food...ml#montecristo
>>
>> http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...ichHistory.htm
>>
>> Kate
>> --
>
> Thank you Kate, these seem to back-up what I had found earlier. I do
> wonder though where all the deep-fried variations come from. Other
> than that it seems that there is no specific answer. I do find the
> "Brown Derby" tie-in interesting.
>
The same fork in the road where sauteed and deep fried French toast parted
ways.

TMO

"Olivers" > wrote in message
...
> Charles Gifford extrapolated from data available...
>
> >
> > Thank you Kate, these seem to back-up what I had found earlier. I do
> > wonder though where all the deep-fried variations come from. Other
> > than that it seems that there is no specific answer. I do find the
> > "Brown Derby" tie-in interesting.
> >
> The same fork in the road where sauteed and deep fried French toast parted
> ways.
>
> TMO

I fear so. It will be worse when these forks become 3 or 5 tined.

Charlie

<snip>

I am having to do this from memory.

George L. Herter wrote a 3 volume set of books on food and cooking.

It will have the "origins" of the Monte Cristo sandwich, I am fairly
sure.

You may have to ask your local public library to borrow it; if they
themselves don't have it.

Good luck.

Mark Preston wrote:

> <snip>
>
> I am having to do this from memory.
>
> George L. Herter wrote a 3 volume set of books on food and cooking.
>
> It will have the "origins" of the Monte Cristo sandwich, I am fairly
> sure.
>
> You may have to ask your local public library to borrow it; if they
> themselves don't have it.
>
> Good luck.

Aw, jeez, Mark. We've been through the lightweight phoniness and plain
nonsense of Herter's "facts" before. I wouldn't trust his books to
hold up a short table leg.

It's not in Herter's "Bull Cook" (about which it becomes obvious after
a moment's reading, is missing one word in the title).

Pastorio

Bob (this one) extrapolated from data available...

> Mark Preston wrote:
>
>> <snip>
>>
>> I am having to do this from memory.
>>
>> George L. Herter wrote a 3 volume set of books on food and cooking.
>>
>> It will have the "origins" of the Monte Cristo sandwich, I am fairly
>> sure.
>>
>> You may have to ask your local public library to borrow it; if they
>> themselves don't have it.
>>
>> Good luck.
>
> Aw, jeez, Mark. We've been through the lightweight phoniness and plain
> nonsense of Herter's "facts" before. I wouldn't trust his books to
> hold up a short table leg.
>
> It's not in Herter's "Bull Cook" (about which it becomes obvious after
> a moment's reading, is missing one word in the title).
>
Oh, Bob, he's not that bad....certainly a "hoot" to read, and his grossest,
most glaring errors literally leap from the pages (as if he might not have
been composing with the "deadly serious" mode turned on).

I suspect that as with many other dishes, it may be hard to place an
accurate "person + moment" to the Monte Christo, but it certainly seems
Edwardian and I'd be inclined to bet on Paris (or Deauville/Nice/etc.),
1875-1910 or so.

Now, as to the relationship with "Croque Monsieur" ?

TMO

TMO

"Charles Gifford" > wrote in message link.net>...
> "Kate Connally" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Charles Gifford wrote:
> > >
> > > I have done a considerable amount of searching today about the Monte
> Cristo
> > > sandwich. I, for some reason, thought that this was cooked by
> deep-frying.
> > > Most of the recipes I have seen are pan or griddle fried in butter with
> only
> > > a few that call for deep-frying. I have not been successful in
> discovering
> > > the origin of this sandwich let alone what the original method was. The
> > > variations are astounding! Can anyone help with the history of this
> > > sandwich? Thanks!
> >
> > Charlie,
> > I googled it and this is what I came up with.
> > It seems to be a variation on the Croque Monsieur.
> > It appears in the 1940's and 50's in So. Calif.
> > It is not deep fried, but fried in butter according
> > to the earliest known recipes. See these sites:
> >
> >
> http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFac...iches&fid=7541
> >
> > http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food...ml#montecristo
> >
> > http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...ichHistory.htm
> >
> > Kate
> > --
>
> Thank you Kate, these seem to back-up what I had found earlier. I do wonder
> though where all the deep-fried variations come from. Other than that it
> seems that there is no specific answer. I do find the "Brown Derby" tie-in
> interesting.
>
> Charlie


Yeah, these sites are correct. The "Monte Cristo" sandwich is from
the 1940s and 1950s.
As I posted (somewhere else) in November 2000:


From RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT, June 1936, pages 412-413:

_Hy's Three-Ring Circus MENU MAKING_
E. A. Bachman, proprietor of the Annex, Portland, Oregon, features Hy
Frager,
the famous American chef who peps up menu listings with verbal
acrobatics.
(Pg. 413, col. 1--ed.)
_Combination Sandwiches_
"CLUBHOUSE" (Breast of Chicken, Crisp Premium Bacon, TOmato, Lettuce,
Pickles
and Olives)... .40
"RUEBEN" (Not "Reuben"--ed.) (Baked Premium Ham, WHite Meat Chicken,
Coquille
Swiss Cheese and Tomato on Russian Rye)... .45
"MONTE CRISTO" (Baked Ham and Coquille Swiss Cheese, French Toasted in
Butter)... .35
"ANNEX" (Oregon's Choice Yaquina Oysters, Ham, Green Peppers in
Butter, Cream
and Eggs)... .45
(Col. 2--ed.)
"POP" (Chicken Salad, Lettuce, Tomato and Bacon, Olives)... .30
"HOLC" (Baked Ham, Peanut Butter and India Relish)... .25
"PWA" (Tuna Fish, Tomato, Lettuce and 1000 Isle)... .25
"FOREST SERVICE" (Baked Beans, Chili Sauce and Bacon)... .25
"FRENCH DIP SANDWICH" (A crispy, crunchy Hard Roll w/ an amazing
filling of
Barbecued Meat, Swiss Cheese and a spicy, tangy Wine Sauce that
combines into
a superb bouquet of flavor)... .20

Also, RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT, January 1937, "ideas from a thousand
menus,"
pg. 55, col. 2:

SANDWICHES (...)
$.35 Monte Cristo (Ham and American Cheese, Dipped in Egg, Fried in
Butter)--Ballard-Ludlow Ferry.


And as I posted (somewhere else) in December 2000:


From THE CATERER AND HOTEL PROPRIETORS' GAZETTE, January 1923, pg.
32, col. 1:

Sandwiches
(...)
Monte Cristo... 50


Barry Popik
famous(?) traveling wordsmith, back from Namibia

"Barry Popik" > wrote in message
om...
>
> Yeah, these sites are correct. The "Monte Cristo" sandwich is from
> the 1940s and 1950s.
> As I posted (somewhere else) in November 2000:
>
>
> From RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT, June 1936, pages 412-413:
>
> _Hy's Three-Ring Circus MENU MAKING_
> E. A. Bachman, proprietor of the Annex, Portland, Oregon, features Hy
> Frager,
> the famous American chef who peps up menu listings with verbal
> acrobatics.
<snip>

Thank you for the additional information. Obliged.

Charlie