Now, I don’t know about you, but some of my best Disneyland memories are connected to food. Sometimes it is something simple. (No, it is not a churro.) But in those moments of culinary elegance? The chefs of the Disneyland Resort do wonderful things that you aren’t likely to easily forget.
My own Disneyland dining experiences run the full spectrum from the down-to-earth cheeseburger at Frontierland’s Stage Door Cafe to the extremely sumptuous Club 33 holiday brunch and everything in between. One especially memorable meal in December of 2003 was at Granville’s Steakhouse at the Disneyland Hotel. Our selections were:
Dungeness Crab Cake
Green Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
A 10 ounce Filet Mignon
Forest Mushrooms in a Port Reduction
Heirloom Potatoes with Garlic and Onions
Grand Marnier Soufflé with Grand Marnier Ice Cream
Coffee
And yes, the Crab Cake was every bit as tasty as it looks!
Disney has been appropriately proud of their culinary accomplishments for many years. Consistency in how the food appears and tastes day in and day out is a key to that success. It can be all of the batter in mass quantities for those classic Mickey pancakes enjoyed by the throngs visiting the River Belle Terrace every day. Or the gallons of Clam Chowder served in those sourdough bread bowls from the Royal Street Veranda in New Orleans Square. (The secret is the carrots!) The cast members who provide food service throughout the resort just get it right. It why we love to come back again for more of those favorites.
Disneyland has been sharing recipes with guests for many years. And a series of cookbooks have been a perennial guest favorite. If there is ever need for a quick reminder, all one has to do is open and turn to the page of a particular favorite to start the process of enjoying that treat right at home.
Among the many lists of cookbooks on Amazon, one shows 13 different Disney cookbooks. It seems that I have three editions out of all those mentioned. “Cooking With Mickey” had both a 1986 and 1998 edition. “Mickey’s Gourmet Cookbook” has many of the same recipes found in the other two — this time in paperback from 1994.
The front cover of “Cooking With Mickey Around Our World”.
And yes it is far too clean for a real cookbook. I freely admit this is more of collectable than a working tool in my kitchen. In fact, I had to go look on the bookshelf in order to find it for this story!
One of the truly great things about these books is that they not only have an index by item, but one by restaurant location as well. With many places now changed or gone all together, it’s a great reference to have recipes from places like the Disneyland Hotel’s “Monorail Café” or the Plaza Pavilion listed.
One favorite of many was Adventureland’s “Tahitian Terrace”. With the great show and setting, many guests have missed it. Not to fear! As this week, I am sharing four recipes once served there now found on the pages of these cookbooks – the Ginger Dressing Hawaiian, Chow Yuk Stir Fry, the Sauce For Orientale Pork Ribs and Mahi Mahi.
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Why don’t we add a Beverage and Dessert recipe to complete the menu? Since we’re in a tropical mood so far, how about a pair from the Walt Disney World Polynesian Village Resort? Here’s the classic “Navy Grog” and the “Polynesian Village Fried Bananas” from the Papeete Bay Veranda!
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Hope that you’ve enjoyed this glimpse at some of the tasty treats awaiting you in the cookbooks mentioned! Check back in future weeks for more retro menus including the Monorail Café and Aladdin’s Oasis. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even come up with something like Tuna Burgers from the Chicken of the Sea Pirates Galley?
If you can wait, why not pick up your own copy of “Mickey’s Gourmet Cookbook” through our Amazon links. It won’t make the cost any less, but while you’re enjoying one of the recipes at home, you can be helping keep things going here online!