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Monroe Boston Strause was an American
pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
maker whose innovations included graham-cracker crust
Graham cracker crust is a style of pie crust made from crushed graham crackers. Graham crackers are a sweet American cracker made from unbleached, whole wheat graham flour. The crust is usually flavored and stiffened with butter or vegetable oil ...
, chiffon pie, and black-bottom pie. He was a "pie celebrity" whose name was "a household word."
Strause was born in 1900 in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
. In 1919 he was hired by his uncle who ran a wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. I ...
pie business. In his early twenties, Strause took over the business, following his uncle's retirement. He became a consultant in the 1930s after selling his company.
Because of improvements in oven
upA double oven
A ceramic oven
An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
reliability and consistency, homemade and increasingly complex cake
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
s had been overtaking pie as a popular American dessert, which inspired Strause to his experimentations. He considered pie to be the "Great American Dessert," superior to most other foods.
Strause's technique was more scientific in nature; he called his recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.
Hist ...
s "formulas." The publisher of his book ''Pie Marches On'' described it this way: "He has reduced pie baking to an exact science and measures each ingredient with the care of a pharmacist." His focus on quality combined with secrecy and showmanship allowed him, according to ''The Globe & Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', to earn "a bank president’s salary out of pie."
He was an early pioneer of the celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...
ethos
Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...
. In 1960, Strause was hired as a consultant by Cannon Foods Inc. of Bridgeville, Delaware, to create recipes based on Cannon food products.
Strause and his wife Violet Marian had a daughter, born May 21, 1938, and a son.
He died in 1981.
Books
* ''Pies for Profit'' (1938) * ''Pie Marches On'' (1939)Patents
* Dry grater * Meringue pie * Pie marker, method of finishing meringue pies and the resulting meringue pie * Method of making fruit pieImages from patents
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strause, Monroe Boston People from Los Angeles American bakers Pastry chefs Year of birth missing Year of death missing