Friday, September 18, 2015

Dartmouth-Flavored?!

Dartmouth students eating outside at a house partyHere at Rauner, we like food. We've written about Super Bowl snacks, cookbooks produced in Hanover, and "Maid's Night Out" dinners at the Hanover Inn. Dartmouth has also produced a wide variety of Dartmouth-themed or Dartmouth-specific foods, drinks and, for the lack of a better word, concoctions. Most Dartmouthians know of green eggs, from the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham, written by Dartmouth alum Ted Geisel (Class of 1925). 

Jose Clemente Orozco dinner 1934 menuOne of the most palatable is "Dartmouth Ice," served at a "testimonial dinner" for José Clemente Orozco (the creator of the murals in the Orozco room in Baker-Berry library) in 1934. What was this Dartmouth Ice? An ice cream? Or was it more like a sorbet? Was it green? Nothing survives to give us a hint.

Green Machine RecipeThe most famous may not be a food after all. The "Green Machine," served from a garbage pail, includes vodka, rum, limeade and lime sherbet. The only information in our file states that the recipe was requested in 1981 by the Library of Congress for an "unnamed Congressman." Now, campus organizations are no longer allowed to serve punches or have hard alcohol, leaving the "Green Machine" to survive only in the archives.

For one of the strangest Dartmouth recipes -- Mountain Sticky Stew -- stay tuned. We'll be posting on the DOC confection soon.

To see our collection related to José Clemente Orozco, ask for DL-34 (4 boxes). The "Green Machine" Vertical File supplies the recipe for the drink and for green eggs and ham. The first photo can be accessed online and is probably of a house party from 1922. If you want to test your Latin, look at Virent ova! Viret perna!! (Rauner Alumni G277v).