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Paul Allen seeks Seattle World's Fair recipes

February 2, 2012 @ 3:22 pm (Updated: 11:35 am - 2/3/12 )

Billionaire Paul Allen must be feeling a bit nostalgic for the Seattle World's Fair. On Twitter, he asked if anyone has recipes of the unique food served at the 1962 extravaganza.

Allen was nine years old when he attended the Century 21 Exposition, commonly known as the the Seattle World's Fair. He says that event "partially inspired the EMP."

The fair saw the construction of the Space Needle and monorail, as well as several buildings that remain, including the Pacific Science Center. Allen's Experience Music Project, was designed to fit in with the fairground atmosphere, but was built nearly 40 years later.

Allen tweeted it would be fun to taste some of that 1962 World's Fair food again.

Tweet

Saveur reports Maurice Vermesch first baked Belgian waffles, which are properly called Brussels waffles, at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. As is typical for us, Seattle didn't get its proper credit for introducing the waffles. After they were sold at the 1964-65 New York fair they became very popular. Vermersch's daughter Mariepaule wouldn't divulge her family's recipe, but the magazine thinks they've come very close:

1 3/4 cups self-rising flour, preferably Aunt Jemima brand
1 tsp. granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups of water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
4–6 cups whipped cream
2 pints ripe, in-season strawberries, hulled and halved
Confectioners' sugar

Heat an electric Belgian waffle iron until very hot. Meanwhile, combine flour and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups water, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Whisk in melted butter. Beat egg whites in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy, 1–2 minutes, then increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. Gently but thoroughly fold half the egg whites at a time into batter. Pour about 1 cup of the batter (or enough batter to fill pockets in iron) into hot waffle iron; immediately lower waffle iron lid and cook until waffles are golden-brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Separate sheet of waffles into individual waffles. Repeat process with remaining batter. To serve, put each hot waffle on a plate, top with a pile of whipped cream and strawberries, and sprinkle with some confectioners' sugar.

I'm going to imagine Paul Allen is rolling up his sleeves right now, putting on a geeky-adorable apron, and looking for his measuring cups so he can make these for himself.

"Sukiyaki and tempura" from Japan were considered exotic foods in 1962. I couldn't find the recipe for the type of Japanese tempura shrimp that were served.

The Space Needle's executive chef, Rene Schless, was busy 50 years ago preparing Saute of Beef, Burgundy. The original recipe starts with 40 pounds of beef, but this version is cut down to a family-sized serving for six:

2 lbs. beef for stew
3 T. shortening
1 onion, chopped
3 level T. flour
1 cup Burgundy
1 1/4 cups (1 10 1/2-oz.) can bouillon
1 (4-oz.) can mushrooms
2 T. chopped parsley
1 bay leaf, finely crushed
1/4 t. each powdered thyme, rosemary and marjoram
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. pepper
Pinch cloves
6 small white onions, parboiled
6 small carrots, parboiled
1 cup celery slices, parboiled
1 cup cooked peas (optional)

Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Brown meat in heated shortening. Add chopped onion and cook until wilted. Sprinkle four over meat, stirring until blended. Add wine, bouillon. undrained mushrooms, parsley and seasonings. Cover tightly and simmer until meat is almost tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Add parboiled onions, carrots and celery, continue cooking until meat and vegetables test done. Taste and add a little additional salt, if needed. Just before serving, add the cooked peas. Use 1/2 cup additional froth or water and garnish beef when served, with 1 cup sauteed fresh mushrooms instead of using canned mushrooms, if desired.

Ready for a nice drink to cap off all that work in the kitchen? Seattle Magazine’s cocktail expert A.J. Rathbun offers this vintage recipe from the top of the Space Needle, the Cloud Buster:

Ice Cubes
1 1/2 ounces vodka
3 ounces Champagne
Lemon twist, for garnish

Add the vodka and three ice cubes to a Champagne glass. Add the Champagne, stir briefly, garnish with the lemon twist.

Here are some more dazzling details about Seattle's World Fair

Feel free to reminisce with Allen. If you went to the Century 21 Exposition, what do you remember?

The Life magazine cover from February 9, 1962 captured our Space Needle under construction and wrote about the "Fabulous Fair in Seattle." Notice the other feature article about "Romney of Rambler, New Star in Politics."

Life

That "new star" was George W. Romney. When he was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation he turned around the struggling firm by focusing all its efforts on the compact Rambler car. Romney became one of the first high-profile business executive to openly share his Mormon faith. He was the Governor of Michigan and he was a candidate in the 1968 GOP presidential race. Romney fell behind Richard Nixon in the polls and was not the nominee. Once elected president, Nixon appointed Romney Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Yes, he was the father of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

By Linda Thomas

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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Seattle still has a small town mentality, but in 1962 we were more like a village
    February 3, 2012 6:36 am
    I watched the progress as the Space Needle was erected, marveling that when finished the structure was going to dwarf the mighty R.C.Smith Tower. Smith's Tower was tallest building west of the Mississippi in its day, but now almost indistinguishable among a skyline of comparative giants.

    Only after years of battling nay-sayers and getting bogged down in the processes of process (still a hallmark of Seattle politics) did the ambitious dream of a World's Fair for our little backwater materialize.

    It was a time of incredible progress, and easy to dream about fantastic futures. Just as the Space Needle was destined to rise higher than even the Smith Tower, a new highway, to be called "Interstate 5" was being built to replace Highway 99 as the main route through Seattle. In the same era the fair opened, I-5 was completed all the way from Mercer Street to Lake City Way! Wow, what a feat! The nay-sayers of course insisted that I-5 had been overbuilt and that it would be impossible for traffic volumes ever to rise to a level that could ever fill so many lanes.

    In those simpler times, my parents thought nothing of letting their 11-year old son travel almost anywhere he cared to on the bus. Bus fare was 15-cents, and if I ever got in a jam and needed to call home there were plenty of phone booths around from which to make a phone call for a nickel.

    I went to Century 21 several times, and today regret that I didn't go even more. There was a display of national and state flags (now gone) just south of the International Fountain and west of the armory, and if you were willing to show up in your Boy Scout uniform and participate in the elaborate flag raising ceremony, you got free admission for the day.

    How we marveled at the future corporate America forecast for us all. A transparent, globular shaped elevator (the "Bubblator") was a huge draw in the Wasington State exhibition, later known as the Coliseum and Key Arena. We would supposedly be living like the Jetsons, before the year 2000, with flying cars, robotic servants, personal jet packs, and many more extensions of 1950's sci-fi realities. Many of us wondered why we were concentrating on building highways for cars when the future of ground transportation would obviously feature monorails. Wouldn't the organizers of Century 21 have been astonished to discover that two kids attending the event (Paul Allen and Bill Gates) would actually help restructure our daily lives more dramatically than the exhibits predicted and in ways that could not even be imagined in 1962, let alone described?

    Less frequently mentioned in nostalgic recollections of the Seattle World's Fair is the rather substantial portion of the campus that was occupied by burlesque shows and strippers. Gypsy Rose Lee (who, IIRC, was originally from Seattle herself) brought her "girls" to town. Gentlemen in long overcoats and formal hats (still somewhat in fashion in 1962)queued up for a "peep" while their families were elsewhere at the fair. Of course, at 11, I had no chance of ever being admitted to the Sin City portion of the event, but I am sure my adolescent imagination conjured up images vastly more lurid than anything actually seen on stage. :-)

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  • ronzilla wrote...
    Why didn't George name his son
    February 3, 2012 6:37 am
    face mask, bat, cup, or jockstrap? What makes mitt any better than the others?
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Oh, and check the waterfront on that old "Life" cover
    February 3, 2012 6:57 am
    Yup, those are cargo vessels at piers that have long been converted to restaurants and trinket shops for tourists. Each pier had a rail spur that ran out alongside the warehouse, and longshore gangs transferred cargo from the ships, to the warehouses, and ultimately to trucks or boxcars to be taken to destinations all around the US.

    Simpler times then, when union wages allowed humble working men to earn a middle class living, buy their families a modest home, and dream of sending their kids to college.

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  • Corwyn wrote...
    Far more interesting
    February 3, 2012 7:27 am
    Would be to get the recipes for the foods served at the 1909 Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition http://www.aype.net/
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  • clevesside wrote...
    An abudance of long-gone food...
    February 3, 2012 9:32 am
    ... was there, as I remember. My folks and I couldn't make up our minds at what international concession we'd eat (ended up being Ivars, which, back then, was everywhere and more). Local seafood, deep-fried items from LARD, and "more sugar, more salt, more grease" were the orders of the day. Taste was everything, and as it was, not always consistent (wait an hour after eating). A great time, and I remember Hangtown Fry from oysters that you can't find anywhere anymore. Gone, baby, gone; good luck Mr. Allen, on chasing the culinary ghosts...
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  • Pat McGrone wrote...
    And now you can get Bubbleator...
    February 3, 2012 1:56 pm
    for your Android phone.

    Thanks to Paul's company A.R.O.

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