My first tryst with Sundaes was at The Nirula’s. There used to be an outlet in Green Park, Delhi, where they would offer free Sundaes to kids who have scored straight A’s or topped their class. It used to be a fun family day out for us every year. Unfortunately, the Sundae my brother used to order would somehow always appear more delicious than my ‘reward’; this was how I learned that Sundaes were of many kinds, and the ones ordered by your friends or family would always appear more tempting.
Sundae, for the uninitiated, is an American dessert made with one or multiple scoops of ice creams and topped with fruits, nuts, chocolate bits and sauces. As mentioned above, they are of many kinds, and it is usually served in a sundae glass, but if you so choose, the base of your Sundae could also be a banana, split lengthwise. This particular dessert is called ‘The Banana Split’. The famous Banana split is not an ancient dessert, and it was created somewhere in the early 1900s in the USA. It was also one of the desserts served at the first U.S. General Hospital in Paris during World War II.
Sundaes and College Students, A Match Made In Heaven
The origin story of the banana split has been a subject of debate for many years. Many historians believe that it was first created in the year 1904 by an optometrist (eye specialist) named Davis Strickler in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Turns out that he was pretty impressed by the fruit Sundaes of Atlantic City where he was vacationing in the summer of 1904. Upon coming back from his vacation, he tried recreating something similar in Latrobe using a banana. In those days, the banana wasn’t a common fruit in Pennsylvania, and it was shipped here via New Orleans. This touch of novelty in his Sunday caught on with many people, and it especially became a craze among students of nearby Saint Vincent College. With word-of-mouth, this premium Sundae found new popularity even beyond Latrobe, and it worked so much in favour of Stickler that he also apparently bought a pharmacy of his own.
Students and word-of-mouth publicity are two common aspects of this other popular legend associated with the origins of the banana split. In Winston, Ohio, Earnest Hazard had created a dessert with a banana that he split lengthwise, filling the gap with three gigantic scoops of Sundaes in addition to chocolate, strawberry and pineapple sauces, whipped cream, maraschino cherries and nuts. In 1907, he created this dessert to attract students from nearby Wilmington College to his shop during winter when business would take a massive hit.
While in 2004, the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) happened to certify the city of Latrobe, Pennsylvania as the place of origin of the banana split, Wilmington still holds an annual festival in honour of the dessert.
But another fascinating story about Banana Split is the peculiar places it has reached and the popularity it has gained along the way. Walgreens, a drug store run by Charles Rudolph Walgreen in the Chicago area, started offering banana split as a signature dessert, attracting customers who dropped by after their purchase.
Irrespective of where the origin of banana split lies, we sure know that we are not getting over this yummy ice cream dessert soon. How about trying a version of the dessert at home with this recipe. Do let us know how you liked it.