Banana split

Infobox Prepared Food
name = Banana Split


caption = A traditional banana split as served at Cabot's Ice Cream and Restaurant in Newtonville, Massachusetts.
alternate_name =
country = United States
region = Northeast Region
creator = Multiple claims
course = Dessert
served = Cold
main_ingredient = vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream
Bananas
Pineapple topping
Chocolate Syrup
Strawberry Topping
Nuts
Whipped Cream
Maraschino Cherries
variations = Multiple
calories =
other =

A banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a "boat". A banana is cut in two lengthwise (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Variations abound, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in a row between the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned over the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries. In South America, some of the ice cream flavors might be replaced with dulce de leche.

History

David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store's soda fountain, invented the banana-based triple ice cream sundae in 1904.Turback, Michael (March 2004). "The Banana Split Book". Camino Books. ISBN 094015983X] The sundae originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of other sundaes, and caught on with students of nearby Saint Vincent College. News of the sundae spread by word-of-mouth by students, through correspondence, and at professional conventions. [Steele, Bruce (August 25 2004). " [http://www.umc.pitt.edu/media/pcc040826/fromPittcameSplit.html With a Cherry on Top-Pitt fetes alums creation of banana split] ". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved on September 3 2007.] Strickler went on to buy the pharmacy, naming it Strickler's Pharmacy. [ Smith, Rachel (June 22 2006). " [http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/rss/s_459081.htm Latrobe's banana split a sweet 'Taste of America'] ". "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". Retrieved on September 3 2007.] The city of Latrobe celebrated the 100th anniversary of the invention of the banana split in 2004, and in the same year the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) certified the city as its birthplace.

A year or two later, historians say, a Boston ice cream entrepreneur came up with the same sundae, with one minor flaw — he served his banana splits with the bananas unpeeled until he discovered that ladies preferred them peeled. ["The Soda Fountain", 1905 [http://www.brickfarmicecream.com/bananasplit.html Birth of the banana split.] ]

Town fathers in Wilmington, Ohio, claim their city, southeast of Dayton, is the birthplace of the popular treatFact|date=April 2007. In 1907, restaurant owner Ernest Hazard wanted to attract students from Wilmington College during the slow days of winter. He staged an employee contest to come up with a new ice cream dish. When none of his workers was up to the task, he split a banana lengthwise, threw it into an elongated dish and created his own dessert. The town commemorates the event each June with a Banana Split Festival. [ [http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Summer-Harvest-Festivals-2008/Detail.aspx All Recipes Staff, Summer Harvest Festivals 2008] . All Recipes. 1 July 2008.]

The cities of Latrobe, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Ohio each claim to be the home of the original banana split, although only Wilmington actually sponsors an annual Banana Split Festival. The main trouble with establishing the actual historical birthplace of the banana split lies with proper documentation. Strickler may have concocted a banana-based sundae several years before Hazard, but few tangible pieces of evidence exist to prove the claim beyond reasonable doubt. None of the original boat-shaped glass bowls Strickler allegedly ordered have survived, for example. First-hand interviews with both Strickler and Hazard only confirm the basic details of their creative process, not definitive proof of invention. [Written by Michael Pollick as seen at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-banana-split.htm]
Walgreens is credited with spreading the popularity of the banana split. Charles Walgreen adopted the banana split as the signature dessert in the chain of drugstores he founded in Chicago.

References

External links

* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0405/p18s02-hfks.html History of individual ingredients in banana split]
* [http://www.kochecke.com/cooking-recipe-banana-split.html Cooking recipe with photo]