Menu Mondays | Something from Nothing: Thrifty Foods from the 1930s
Not all the seemingly strange recipes of the Great Depression era resulted from extreme hardship and resourceful culinary strategy. Recipes that may appear odd to us now were everyday cooking for most people during the 1930s. A cracker pie? Of course! Cooks had been imitating apple pies using soda crackers for at least a century before Ritz exploded onto the scene and stole the show.
There’s much to be said for Nabisco’s marketing strategies around the Ritz cracker. First produced and distributed from a North Philadelphia location in 1934, the crackers were well-received from the start. The crackers' unique color, shape, and light, buttery flavor were completely different from their pale, square forerunners. The Ritz name was also a winning angle for Nabisco, conjuring images of wealth during a difficult time by alluding to the glamorous Ritz-Carlon Hotel in New York. Above all, Ritz crackers boasted affordable luxury at only 19 cents a box. Nabisco introduced its Ritz cracker version of Mock Apple Pie in 1935, and the recipe remained on the box for decades. The recipe became a hit with thrifty homemakers who -- across the country and across time -- may have identified with a bit of nostalgia themselves.
Ingredients
• Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie
• 36 Ritz Crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs)
• 1-3/4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Grated peel of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside.
2. Heat water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and peel; cool.
3. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie. Trim, seal, and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape.
4. Bake at 425°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely.
There’s much to be said for Nabisco’s marketing strategies around the Ritz cracker. First produced and distributed from a North Philadelphia location in 1934, the crackers were well-received from the start. The crackers' unique color, shape, and light, buttery flavor were completely different from their pale, square forerunners. The Ritz name was also a winning angle for Nabisco, conjuring images of wealth during a difficult time by alluding to the glamorous Ritz-Carlon Hotel in New York. Above all, Ritz crackers boasted affordable luxury at only 19 cents a box. Nabisco introduced its Ritz cracker version of Mock Apple Pie in 1935, and the recipe remained on the box for decades. The recipe became a hit with thrifty homemakers who -- across the country and across time -- may have identified with a bit of nostalgia themselves.
Ingredients
• Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie
• 36 Ritz Crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs)
• 1-3/4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Grated peel of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside.
2. Heat water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and peel; cool.
3. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie. Trim, seal, and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape.
4. Bake at 425°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely.
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