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Opera Sundae
Peel a good sized seedless orange; cut 3 slices and lay on a round plate. On each slice lay a spoonful of ice cream, 3 kinds, chocolate, vanilla strawberry. Shape it round over the cream; pour maraschino syrup and top with maraschino cherries. There is as much difference between the soda of different stores as between the roast beef of different restaurants.
A fountain assembly rather than a cooked dish, and it comes together in under two minutes once the components are ready. The only real decisions are the orange and the syrup.
- YieldOne sundae: three slices of orange with a spoonful of ice cream each. The original gives no serving count.
- The orangeCut into three rounds thick enough to hold a spoonful of ice cream without collapsing; the original gives no thickness. "Seedless" at this period most likely meant a navel orange; peel it and also strip the white pith, which turns bitter under sweet syrup.
- Maraschino syrupNot the pink brine in a modern jar of cherries. Fountain maraschino syrup was a sweetened flavouring syrup, sometimes with a little maraschino liqueur; the closest substitutes are a bar-quality maraschino or luxardo cherry syrup, or the syrup from good dark Italian cherries.
- Maraschino cherriesPeriod fountain cherries were often firmer and darker than the bright red bleached-and-dyed style that became standard from the Prohibition years onward. Amarena or Luxardo cherries read closer to the intent.
- Shape it round over the creamThe instruction is about presentation: press or mould each scoop into a dome so the three sit as matching spheres on their orange rounds. A small ice cream scoop or two spoons dipped in warm water does it.
- Order of workPlate the orange, scoop, then syrup and cherries immediately and serve. The acid and moisture from the fruit will slick the plate and slide the scoops if it stands.
- The closing lineThe sentence about roast beef is the author's editorial aside on fountain quality, not part of the method.
Soda fountain manuals of the early twentieth century were trade books, written for the dispenser behind the marble counter rather than the home cook, and they sold on the strength of carrying many named combinations. Names were the product, and "Opera" belongs to a naming habit that borrowed prestige from the theatre. The three-flavour combination of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry that this recipe assumes was standard fountain stock, and the same trio was sold in brick form as Neapolitan. The use of fresh orange as a base is a reminder that a fountain was as much a fruit counter as an ice cream shop, with citrus, crushed fruit and flavouring syrups lined up together. The aside about roast beef reflects the fact that soda water, syrup and ice cream were made on the premises, so results varied from shop to shop.