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The deep-fried delicacy dates back over 100 years
It’s just a few simple ingredients, but the mad genius who first decided to dunk an entire triple-decker sandwich in the deep fat fryer should either be awarded all the Michelin stars or tried for war crimes. The recipe dates back more than a century, suspiciously close to the release of the silent blockbuster Monte Cristo in 1922.
Seventy-five years ago, a cookbook author claimed the decadent turkey, ham and Swiss (similar to a French Croque Monsieur) originated in San Francisco. “That’s probably true,” says Biff Naylor, whose family has been in the restaurant business for a century. “L.A. was kind of backwoods cooking in the 1920s.”
Photoplay reported Casablanca actor Peter Lorre munching on one and soon, the knife-and-fork sandwich was on the menu at fashionable Hollywood establishments like Tail o’ the Cock, Nikabob and the Brown Derby.
By the 1950s, Biff’s dad Tiny Naylor was using toothpicks to hold the halves together, dipping them in egg batter and deep-frying the concoction. “You couldn’t cook it on the grill because you couldn’t get the edges,” Naylor says. “The fryer became the way to get it evenly cooked on all sides.”
When Disneyland’s Blue Bayou Restaurant opened in 1967, its version instantly became the most famous Monte Cristo in America. It’s still perfect, notwithstanding the price tag (park admission required) and monthslong wait for a reservation.
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Canter’s and Du-Par’s serve it, but unfried and therefore not authentic. Brent’s Deli and House of Pies do it right, and whose life would not be improved by a visit to HMS Bounty on Wilshire? My current favorite, though, is the textbook example at Keno’s in Anaheim: Deep-fried, powdered sugared, jam on the side and served in a sumptuous lounge banquette.
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Chris Nichols
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