Potatoes, Rhubarb, and Ox
I've been quite busy lately with university related things; in particular thesis writing and editing articles for publication. Since my article "Western Canadian Identity on the Menu" was published in Alberta History (Spring 2016, Vol. 64, No. 2, p. 18-27) this month, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe that comes from…
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Potatoes, Rhubarb, and Ox
I’ve been quite busy lately with university related things; in particular thesis writing and editing articles for publication. Since my article “Western Canadian Identity on the Menu” was published in Alberta History (Spring 2016, Vol. 64, No. 2, p. 18-27) this month, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe that comes from one of my source menus.

One of the largest portions of my thesis, and of the aforementioned article, focuses on Canadian Pacific Railway dining cars and hotel dining rooms and the foods they served. For this post, I will be focusing on a menu from the Chateau Lake Louise.

When the Chateau Lake Louise was built in 1890, the chalet contained a sitting room, bedrooms, and a kitchen. By 1893 the CPR had built a chalet large enough to house 12 guests; additional visitors would camp on the shores of the lake and take afternoon tea in the chalet.[1] By the 1920s the hotel boasted “an imposing fireproof structure, thoroughly modern in all its accommodations and appointments.” With room for 750 guests, the hotel served meals at regular hours in their 400 seat dining room, charging those without rooms in need of meals $1.25 for breakfast, $1.50 for lunch, and $2.00 for dinner. “The magnificent dining-room, with large plate-glass windows” allowed guests to view the lake-side scenery while dining. Guests who wanted to take afternoon tea were served in the lounge, where meals could also be purchased a la carte outside of regular meal hours.[2] Besides meals, the Chateau served specialised beverages. The names of the beverages on one of these special drink menus betrayed the tourist nature of the hotel: “Chinook Beer” and “Alberta Pride Beer” were named after the location of the lake and a local weather phenomenon. Ice cream sundaes were namesakes of surroundings local to Lake Louise; Alberta, Banff, Mount Rundle, Cascade, Windermere, Bow Valley, Mount Edith, Minnewanka, Three Sisters, Vermillion, Moraine, Emerald, Glacier, Golden and Yoho all had sundaes named after them. Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and lemon or orange “water ice” formed the base for the sundaes. The sundae toppings were, for the most part, not locally available ingredients but exotic imported ones like cocoanut, oranges, pistachio nuts, bananas, and pineapples. Some fruit ingredients like peaches, grapes and cherries could easily have been acquired from the Okanagan Valley, and it is likely that the cream used for the ice cream and whipped cream came from nearby farms.[3]

One section of the menu listed “Ice Nectars,” made with ice cream, flavoured syrup, ginger ale, and topped with whipped cream. The sweet, nectar-like drinks were named after flowers like columbine, orange blossoms, lilacs, “New Mown Hay,” and hyacinth. One ice nectar however was not named entirely after a flower.[4] The “Rose Marie” would have invoked thoughts of something much bigger than a flower during the 1920s – Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstien II’s 1924 operetta Rose-Marie: Romance of the Canadian Rockies. The operetta featured miners, French-Canadian trappers, lumberjacks, (and mounties depending on the adaptation), and “Indians” and was adapted to silent film by 1928.[5] It is quite likely that the hotel beverage menu from the was utilizing the name for its popular association with Canada.

Tourist attractions like Chateau Lake Louise catered to the rich, and capitalized not only on the sophistication of the wealthy,[6] but used local names for novelties like ice creams and ice nectars to capitalize on the expectations of tourists by creating treats that could be associated with the places they had come to see.

Usually I am unable to make things from the menus I find in archives, as only the names of dishes are usually provided. (I can, of course, search for period recipes with the same names, but that doesn’t always work out!) Fortunately, the drink menu from the Chateau Lake Louise lists the name of their beverages, and their ingredients!

Ice Nectar – Rose Marie

The Rose Marie contains “Mingled Strawberry Ice Cream and Syrup with Ginger Ale and Whipped Cream Top.” (It, and the other nectars, cost 40 cents.)

Ice nectars are basically fancy floats, and since I didn’t have a recipe to use, just the list of ingredients, I guessed the quantities. I used around 1 scoop of ice cream, a 1/4 cup of syrup (homemade) and 250ml of Canada Dry Ginger Ale (since 1904. It used to be made in Edmonton and Toronto). I topped it with a big dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of syrup.

It was over 20 degrees Celsius today (April 17th), and the Rose Marie was a delightfully cold, sweet strawberry treat! My roommate and I both enjoyed them, and I am sure we will continue to do so until I run out of ice cream or ginger ale.

p.s. Rose-Marie is one of my favourite musical movies, specifically the 1936 version with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald and the 1954 version with Ann Blyth and Howard Keel. You should listen to “Rose Marie, I Love You,” since it was in my head the whole time I was writing this. The history of the operetta and its various adaptations are quite enjoyable as well. If you have the time to look it up or watch one or all of the versions, I would highly recommend it! (There are some great Canadian stereotypes. The operetta was set in the Canadian Rockies of Saskatchewan, and Hammerstein II and Harbach came up with the idea after a trip to Quebec.)

Sources:

[1] Canadian Pacific Railway, Pamphlet on Canadian Pacific Railway Hotels, 1975, Info File Canadian Pacific Railway 1911-1939, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, AB.

[2] Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway Lines Detailed Information for Agents Regarding Travel in the Rockies, circa 1920s, Info File Canadian Pacific Railway 1911-1939, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, AB, 15.

[3] Chateau Lake Louise Menu, circa 1920s, 89.131, Menus 1920-1929, Glenbow Archives, Calgary, AB.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, Rose Marie: Romance of the Canadian Rockies, libretto by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstien II (New York: Harms, 1924); Rose Marie, Directed by Lucien Hubbard (1928; Beverly Hills, CA: MGM).