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The Algonquin
Mix together chopped figs, dates, nuts, and maple syrup, and pour over vanilla ice cream.
A one-line formula with no quantities, which is normal for soda-fountain manuals — the fountain man built each sundae to order. A workable ratio is equal parts by volume of chopped figs, chopped dates and nuts, moistened with maple syrup until the mixture just falls from a spoon.
- Dried figs need attentionCalimyrna or Mission figs sold today can be dry and tough. Snip off the hard stem ends and steep the figs in hot water for ten minutes, then drain and dry before chopping, or the topping will be leathery against cold ice cream.
- DatesUse Deglet Noor rather than Medjool: Medjools are sticky enough to clump into a single mass in syrup. Check for pits even in packages labelled pitted.
- NutsWalnuts or pecans suit the period. Toast them at 350F for 6 to 8 minutes and cool completely before mixing — untoasted nuts read as raw and damp once syrup is added.
- Maple syrupOld "maple syrup" at a fountain was frequently a maple-flavoured cane blend. Real syrup is better here; a dark grade (labelled Grade A Dark Robust) stands up to the fruit, where a delicate amber vanishes.
- ConsistencyAdd the syrup a spoonful at a time. Too much and it slides straight off the ice cream into a puddle at the bottom of the dish; the fruit should hold together in a spoonable mass.
- Serve at room temperatureChilled maple syrup stiffens and the fruit seizes. Mix shortly before serving, or hold the topping at room temperature and stir it loose before spooning it over.
- YieldAbout half a cup each of figs, dates and nuts with roughly a third of a cup of syrup dresses six generous sundaes. The mixture keeps a week covered in the refrigerator.
Soda-fountain books multiplied in the years around national Prohibition, when drugstore counters and hotel fountains took over some of the trade the bars had lost, and a great many of their recipes were named after hotels, theatres and society figures. The Algonquin, the West 44th Street hotel that opened in 1902, was already a literary and theatrical haunt before the Round Table began gathering there in 1919, and lending its name to a sundae was probably ordinary fountain practice rather than any endorsement. The combination itself — dried figs, dates and nuts bound with syrup — belongs to a whole family of fountain fruit toppings built from shelf-stable pantry goods that a counter could keep on hand year round, in contrast to the fresh-berry sundaes that came and went with the season.