There’s no way Christina Ward, a native of Milwaukee, would have a New York author write a cookbook inspired by the TV series “Happy Days.”
When the actors of the Milwaukee-set comedy came here in 1983 for an event celebrating the series’ final season, young Ward and some friends “skiped school and met them at the airport.”
Ward, a food historian and official food preservation master for the state of Wisconsin, happily rewatched all 11 seasons of Happy Days (1974-1984) and scoured the records to create the Happy Days Official Cook. I’ve created dozens of recipes for the book: From Aai to Zucchini Bread. ” (Insight Editions).
Honestly, it’s a nostalgic book. In addition to recipes and food photos, it also includes dozens of cast and show photos, as well as trivia questions created by Ward. She accepted the approach. If you’re her Gen Xer, “Happy Days” is a big part of your nostalgia, she said.
She drew recipe ideas from specific episodes of the series, long stories, and characters’ likes and dislikes, including Richie Cunningham’s mother’s love of meatloaf. Even the minor characters, such as Mrs. Rugelach, Fonzie’s grandmother, are filled with the charm of her cooking. And readers will find some of the signature foods of her 1950s to early 60s era in this series. “Hello, City Chicken.”
Ward also confirmed that you don’t need any exotic equipment to make these midcentury Americana dishes. “I was really trying to develop recipes that cooks could access using a standard set of tools,” she said.
But she included a device that was invented long after the Cunningham family enjoyed family dinners and is becoming increasingly popular today.
Here are some of the Milwaukee references, Easter eggs, and other surprises in her book.
Yes, she jumps the shark too
Ward said the first question everyone asked her was whether she was doing the infamous waterskiing episode “Jump the Shark.” No real sharks are harmed in her Jump the Shark Candy Sushi recipe. This recipe tops individual crispy rice cereal concoctions with shark gummy candy.
The secret of rich Milwaukee malt
According to Ward, during the Happy Days era there were different malts in different regions, with other regions having a higher ratio of milk to ice cream or custard. People in Milwaukee were using less milk and making thicker milkshakes.
As a good Milwaukeean, Ward’s malts are based on custard rather than ice cream. She includes recipes for Arnold’s world famous Frozen Her Soft Her Cream and Her Custard that you can make at home.
Mr. C was not the only cook in the family.
Ward drew on the background of former Army cook Howard Cunningham in recipes such as “Mr. C’s Weekend Hash and Poached Eggs.”
“Happy Days” sometimes had fun storylines about men who failed as chefs, but the men still knew how to cook, Ward said. For example, she noted that men cooked for the union’s summer picnics.
dueling potato salad
Reflecting culinary and cultural differences, Ward offers two potato salad recipes. Howard’s German style, vinegar based, and the other Marion’s American style, mayonnaise.
Generally speaking, Milwaukeeans are “mayonnaise potato salad fans.” The exception is German recipes, which she included to reflect the city’s German heritage.
Recipes based on classic Milwaukee restaurant menus
When the Cunningham family went out for special occasions, they went to Chez Antoine. Ward created chicken cordon bleu, shrimp and crab stuffed crepes, and oyster Rockefeller inspired by his book Antoine on the menu at French’s, a high-end Milwaukee restaurant that closed in 1975. I turned my attention to it.
Favorite dishes fried without oil
Ward serves the show’s pizza bowl and Arnold’s suggestion of mozzarella sticks, fries, and onion rings without frying them. These recipes in her book are designed for the air fryer. “Even if it looks back, it needs to reflect some degree of modernity,” she said philosophically.
Ward said there is a long history of kitchen utensils being left on the side of the road. But she believes the air fryer, which she considers a mini-convection oven, “has a permanent place in American kitchens.”
naming milwaukee
The “Happy Days” pizza bowl is actually the Falcon Bowl in Riverwest, Ward said.
And indeed, the last name of one of Fonzie’s girlfriends, Ashley Pfister, is a nod to Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, Ward said.
Ward speculates that the real-life counterpart to the show’s Whitefish Lake is Lake Geneva, perhaps with a little Green Lake in the mix.
And then there’s Arnold’s Drive-In, a favorite hangout of Richie, Fonzie, and friends. Mr. Ward attended Whitefish Bay High School and Nicollet High School, and “Happy Days” co-creator Tom Miller said Arnold’s was located on North Port Washington Road in Glendale (where Copp’s is now). Noting that it was said to reflect the old Milky Way Drive-in in .
But all the Southsiders would say, “Oh no, this is Leon’s,” Ward joked (she is a fourth-generation Bay Viewian).
more:Milwaukee author “Holy Food” explains how religion influences Americans’ diets
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