Weird this came up again. I talked about this very thing a couple of weeks ago. I had the chance to host a visit from a really old friend and his grandchildren for a few days. One of his grandchildren competed in a swimming competition close by.
We enjoyed reminiscing. Keeping in mind, the time we were running together was probably before most here at ChefTalk were born.
We were city boys. He was in the Navy and I'm pretty sure I was still in culinary school. We talked and laughed about all the times his sub was in port in Rhode Island and we'd hit it pretty hard.
At one point he said, remember those times we sucked down a hundred Narraganset ales and when the light was coming up, we would stumble to the bakery to get some Chop Suey.
I asked him about them and if he made them. He was a baker on the sub. I told him I remembered a spice flavor with a chocolate icing.
He said they didn't make them on the sub or ship but they were good because they were not always the same. He tells me they were reworks. Bakeries would use danish or breakfast stales, donut shops would use their stales.
This is him now. Throw stales into the mixer with some milk. Mix until it's like a slurry. add eggs. Then some chopped reworks, a lot of cinnamon spice, including some nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and a lot of ginger. Then add some flour mixed with some baking flour and pop it in the oven.
When they came up some and were cooked, remove them, slam them on the bench, to deflate and refrigerate. Then spread that crappy pineapple filling over the top and ice them.
He said they came about when sailors hit Rode Island. The goal was something exotic that would appeal to the sailors that had eaten all over the world on shore leave. I don't know, pineapple to remember Veterans, and the somewhat pull apart Scenario for fighting.
PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!! COMING FROM TWO OLD FARTS WHO CAN'T ACTUALLY REMEMBER THOSE TIMES CORRECTLY. But I do know he went in at an E 1 and I believed he retired at an E 9.