Thanks to a suggestion from littleladieswholunch I ordered The Automat, (published in 2002). It’s a terrific history with wonderful glossy photos and several classic recipes and it brings back great memories of the times I went to that famous cafeteria with my Aunt Roz and Uncle Mac and cousin Leslie. 

It was an old institution by the time I knew it back in the 50’s and 60’s. It had its heyday in the 1920s, when rich people ate at the Waldorf and “21” and everyone else (the 99%?) ate at the Automat. And, from what I read, it certainly was popular during the Depression. The food was relatively cheap and also good. And people hung out at the tables for hours, the way people do today at Starbucks.

The other day I posted about the Automat pumpkin pie and wished I had the recipe. 

That’s when I got that wonderful suggestion to buy the book.

So, I haven’t baked this pie yet, but will, and will let everyone know if it is the same pumpkin pie of my memories. But in the meantime, here’s the recipe for Pumpkin Pie from The Automat, by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart (Clarkson, Potter 2002). It calls for an 11-inch pie crust but I am thinking that the amount of filling will actually fit nicely into a standard 9-inch pie crust (but baked a bit longer).

Automat Pumpkin Pie

2 cups cooked pumpkin (one 15-ounce can)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 14-1/2 ounce can evaporated milk

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 11-inch prepared pastry crust

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl beat together all the ingredients (except the crust) with a rotary beater or hand whisk until the mixture is smooth. Line an 11-inch pie tin with the pastry. Pour in the filling and bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes one pie

Anyone over a “certain” age and living in the New York Metropolitan area will remember Horn & Hardart Automats, those grand cafeterias where you could get on the usual line and buy the usual stuff from the steam tables. But it was always more fun to buy the individual portions of food that were set in little alcoves on the wall, each covered by a glass window. You would put the required number of nickels in a slot and poof! the glass window would open and you would take your food and before you knew it the window closed, and another identical portion of food would circle around and take its place.

If you didn’t have enough change you could get some from the “nickel lady,” in charge of the change booth. As I recall, the nickel ladies were always plump.

My Aunt Roz and Uncle Mac used to take me and my cousin Leslie to the Automat when we went ice skating in Manhattan. The two of us always had the vegetable plate: macaroni and cheese, hash browns and spaghetti.

Dessert depended on the season, but in the autumn I always picked pumpkin pie.

I remember Automat pumpkin pie as a miracle. It was tender, moist and not too spicy. It had a golden sheen on top and nice, crumbly crust. It was the best pumpkin pie ever, even better than my Mom’s.

And so, even after the ice skating days were done and trips to the Automat over, I would sometimes make my way over to one to pick up a slice of pie. 

Then the Automats closed, pushed out of the gastronomic mainstream by the likes of the McDonald’s and Burger King of the world.

Neither of those eateries have pumpkin pie.

Wow, do I wish I had that Automat recipe.

I make a different pumpkin pie every year. I don’t know if the one below is better than the Automat’s. Memories can be deceiving. But I can say it is delicious. Tender, moist, and with a glossy sheen on top. Perfect for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Pie

1-3/4 cups mashed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups half and half cream, evaporated milk or nut milk (such as MimicCream)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Beat the eggs, sugar and brown sugar with a whisk or electric beater set at medium for a minute or until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the cream until well blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and beat ingredients for a minute or until well blended. Pour into the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Makes one pie serving 8 people

Was your mother really a good cook? Was that chocolate cake or those hash browns you had 20 years ago at that restaurant really fabulous?

Food memories can be funny. Our tastes change. Maybe Mom’s chocolate chip cookies weren’t really that good, maybe those hash browns were actually a bit too greasy and if we ate these foods today in someone else’s kitchen or in a different restaurant we wouldn’t rave.

But we remember them so fondly that we think we’ll never find the ultimate recipe for whatever it is we thought was so wonderful.

I have that feeling about a lot of foods. My Mom’s Nut Roll. The Apple Tart at L’Orangerie in Los Angeles. My grandmother’s baked blintzes. The Hot and Sour Soup at Temple Garden in New York’s Chinatown.

When autumn comes and I see the trees turning orange and gold, my food memory turns to pumpkin pie and that makes me remember the Automat. It went out of business when I was a little girl, but I still remember my Aunt Roz and Uncle Mac taking me there for lunch or dinner when we went into Manhattan to go ice skating or to see a show. They were the kind of aunt and uncle that took their nieces and nephews to places and we all loved them so much that the food that came with the day would of course be wonderful no matter where or what it was.

At the Automat, if it was autumn, there was pumpkin pie.

It was the very best pumpkin pie. In my memory. I have been trying to duplicate its flavor and texture since I started cooking. But food memories linger so no matter what I come up with, it’s never “the one” even if the results are fabulous. Someone once gave me a recipe that was supposed to be the Automat authentic version and I made one. Of course I didn’t remember the pie tasting like my pie did.

So which is better, the food or the memory of the food?

Both really, for different reasons. We can savor the memory and eat something delicious even if it isn’t quite the version you remember.

Here’s a terrific recipe for Pumpkin Pie. Not too spicy and with a hint of molasses. Don’t use pumpkin pie “mix”, use plain pumpkin puree or fresh mashed pumpkin (press fresh mashed pumpkin to extract excess liquid).

Pumpkin Pie

1-1/2 cups mashed pumpkin (canned is fine)

1/3 cup brown sugar (any kind)

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons molasses

3 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups half and half cream or evaporated milk

1 9-inch single pie crust, unbaked

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Spoon the pumpkin, brown sugar, white sugar and molasses into a bowl and blend ingredients thoroughly. Beat in the eggs. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cream. Blend ingredients thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and continue baking for 55-60 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Makes one pie

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