Railroad Dining
Picture your dinner on-board the 20th Century
Limited in 1955
· Shrimp
cocktail
· Tomato
slices on romaine lettuce
· Roast
prime rib, broccoli, roasted potatoes
· Strawberry
shortcake
· Choice
of beverage
Unfortunately, most of us never
experienced train travel during the Golden Age of railroading as our parents
did. Decades before Amtrak, trains named
Empire Builder, Super Chief, and City of Los Angeles crisscrossed the country
transporting travelers to countless destinations.
Unlike the airlines of today where
destinations are reached within hours of departure, traveling by train took
time. Still does. Time to enjoy the book tucked into your
suitcase or the local newspaper. Time to
enjoy the ever-changing scenery outside your window.
Unhurried, passengers could savor
sumptuous cuisine on china proudly sporting the railroad’s herald. In 1955 for example, Union Pacific passengers
received breakfast (fruit or juice or cereal - ham or bacon & eggs, toast, preserves
or jelly. beverage), lunch (soup, entree, potatoes and vegetable, salad, bread
and butter, beverage and dessert), and dinner (same choices as lunch) all for
$5.25.
Prepared with the utmost care
and served with complete passenger satisfaction in mind, Class 1 railroads took
great pride in their culinary offerings as shown in the following passage taken
from Union Pacific’s Manual of Recipes
and Service Instructions.
“Food preparation is indeed an
art. While we generally refer to the
preparation of food as "cooking", there is a distinct
difference. Most anyone can
"cook", i.e., transform raw foods into an edible state by the
application of heat and moisture.
However, to properly prepare foods to the highest degree of perfection,
requires knowledge of the many phases of preparation, such as the right
ingredients in the desired dish, mixing of ingredients, seasoning, temperatures
at which the foods should be cooked, length of time to cook, garnishing and
many others. In fact, food preparation
not only requires knowledge, but patience as well.”
Given the slightest
opportunity, we’ll ride anything on rails or drive hours out of our way to
visit an obscure museum. We’ll build exquisitely
detailed model railroads or spend hours assembling jigsaw puzzles of favorite
trains. However, one area we typically
don’t replicate is the food once served on Class 1 railroads during the Golden
Age. This post (and more like it in
coming months) aims to rectify that oversight with simple recipes taken
directly from railroad dining car archives.
Included in “Our Dining Car Recipes” Southern Pacific published the
following three recipes in 1955.
Macaroni Meat Loaf
Serves
6
1 package macaroni 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley ½ chopped green pepper
1 cup bread crumbs 1 cup milk
1 tablespoon grated onions 1 cup ground meat
3 eggs
Cook macaroni until tender and
drain. Combine with remaining
ingredients. Pour into a buttered loaf
pan. Bake at 325º for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve
with tomato sauce.
Clam
Chowder
Serves 4
½ cup minced onions 4
tablespoons butter
½ cup white part of leek 1
tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup green peppers 2
cups little neck clams
½ cup shredded celery 2
cups water
½ cup canned tomatoes 1 cup uncooked cubed potatoes
Salt, white pepper, nutmeg Chopped parsley for garnish
In medium sauce pan, braise onions,
leaks, peppers and celery in butter. Gradually
add flour. Stir carefully until absorbed.
Add tomatoes, clam broth, and
water. When about two-thirds done add
potatoes. Finish over low heat. Put clams in last. Heat thoroughly, and season to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley when serving.
Halibut,
Baked in Parchment
Serves 4
2 lbs. halibut 2
branches celery, cut fine
4 slices bacon 1
small finely chopped onion
4 mushrooms, sliced 2
ounces butler
1 cup blanched shrimp, peeled, 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
cleaned, de-veined 1 sprig chopped parsley
1 beaten egg Salad
oil
Pinch thyme, white pepper, salt Juice of 1 lemon
Parchment paper
Remove bones and skin from
halibut, cut into portion pieces, salt and season, and sprinkle with lemon
juice. Cut round pieces of parchment
paper, dimensions of a soup plate, and moisten with salad oil. Sauté onion and celery in one ounce of butter. Add bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Bind with egg. Put spoonful of dressing on paper, place piece
of fish on same and garnish with shrimps, mushrooms, bacon and a piece of butter.
Fold paper over fish to make edges meet
and tum with finger inward, lapping over a small portion at the time, crimping
it to tightly closed. Bake 25 minutes at
350ºF. Make incision in paper when serving.
Have some fun in the kitchen !!