There’s the tried and true banana split, of course. Classically served in a long dish, called a boat (which gives the sundae its alternative name, banana boat), the recipe is familiar to most ice cream lovers:

A banana is cut in half lengthwise and set in the dish with scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream.

The strawberry ice cream is garnished with pineapple topping, chocolate syrup is poured on the vanilla ice cream and strawberry topping covers the chocolate ice cream.

Finally, crushed nuts, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries garnish the sundae.

Today, there are many variations to the classic banana split. We’ve had Deconstructed Banana Splits (photo #3), Banana Split Cheesecake and the recipe below, Banana Split Sushi from RA Sushi.

> The history of the banana split is below.

> The history of ice cream.

> The history of the ice cream sundae.

> The history of the banana.

> The history of the sushi.

> The different types of sushi: a photo glossary.

> The 10 banana holidays.

 
 
RECIPE: BANANA SPLIT SUSHI

Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
_________________

*You can easily make strawberry purée by processing the berries with a bit of sweetener to taste, and a splash of lemon or lime juice.

[1] Banana Split Sushi at RA Sushi in Orlando (photo © RA Sushi).

[2] Make sure the bananas are ripe but firm (photo © Dole).

[3] Here’s the recipe for this deconstructed banana split with grilled bananas (photo © Sushi Samba).

1. CUT the bananas into 1-1/2 inch slices. While a restaurant can deep-fry the bananas in tempura batter, you can use a simpler approach: Combine the bananas, fat, honey and cinnamon in a nonstick pan over medium heat and fry until golden brown (4-5 minutes on each side).

2. ARRANGE each cooked banana piece on a plate as desired and top with a kiwi slice, which is the base for the remaining toppings. Add the clementine segment, whipped cream, and strawberry halves.

3. DRIZZLE with chocolate sauce and strawberry purée. Serve with chopsticks.
 

[5] “Doc” Strickland later purchased the pharmacy where he invented the banana split. This photo, circa 1962, is via Baltzer Meyer Historical Society, as are photos #6 and #7 below.

BANANA SPLIT HISTORY

The soda fountains of yore were the equivalent of today’s Starbuck’s, where people met for refreshments and socializing. Soda jerks were the mixologists of their day*, inventing treats to excite customers. Malted milks, banana splits and phosphates emerged at the soda fountains of neighborhood drugstore in the 1890s.

In those days, “jerk” was not a derogatory term; it referred to the quick, sharp pull as the attendant drew the carbonated water tap forward.

David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania*, enjoyed taking on the soda jerk role and inventing sundaes at the store’s soda fountain. He invented the banana-based triple scoop ice cream sundae in 1904.

The sundae originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of other sundaes, and caught on with students of nearby Saint Vincent College. In those pre-digital days, news of the nifty new sundae quickly spread by word-of-mouth, written correspondence, and newspaper coverage.

Strickler later designed the elongated “boat” glass banana split dish.

He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and became both a pharmacist and an optometrist, and became known as “Doc” Strickler. He later purchased the Latrobe Pharmacy where he’d invented the banana split; he located his optometry practice upstairs.

It must have done well for Strickler: He went on to buy the pharmacy, renaming it Strickler’s Pharmacy.

The city of Latrobe celebrated the 100th anniversary of the invention of the banana split in 2004. In the same year, the National Ice Cream Retailers Association certified Latrobe as the birthplace of the banana split. It hosts an annual Great American Banana Split Festival in August (it starts today).

We don’t know if he consumed many banana splits, but he lived a long live, passing in 1971 at the age of 90.

The city has the original soda fountain where the banana split was created.

Here’s the history of the ice cream sundae, and the long history of ice cream in general.

[6] The inside of the pharmacy, circa 1950.

[7] The commemorative plaque in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
_______________

*According to Wikipedia, Walgreens is credited with spreading the popularity of the banana split. A chain of drug stores established in the Chicago area in 1901 by Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Walgreens promoted the banana split as a signature dessert. But was it served when the store opened or did someone at Walgreens read the recipe and adopt it? Did Walgreens bestow the name Banana Split to the “banana-based triple ice cream sundae”? The record is mute.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

We love good bread and can [alas] eat loaves of it. But burger buns—even when heavily seeded or made of brioche—rarely fall into that group. And they get soggy.

So when Five Napkin Burger presented a menu of burger salads in addition to conventional burgers, we tried a salad and were hooked. We were never a neat burger eater, so enjoyed the bonuses: no meat juices or ketchup dripping onto us when we raised the burger to our mouth.

While it could be a calorie- and carb-cutting alternative for some, let us hasten to say that we enjoy our burger salad along with the establishment’s excellent onion rings, sweet potato fries, and a beer.

Today’s tip is not just a burger salad, but for those who still want their bun, a salad burger (below).

Our favorite way to enjoy a burger this burger salad from Five Napkin Burger. Photo courtesy Five Napkin Burger | NYC.

To start, think of your favorite salad and assemble the ingredients. Is it spinach salad? Cobb salad? Chopped salad? Salade Niçoise? Spicy greens (arugula, radish, watercress)? Tortilla salad?

Create your burger salad from those ingredients; and if the original salad contained chicken, turkey or other meat, consider adding small amounts of them—a mixed grill burger salad, as it were.

You can make a bacon cheeseburger salad or a diet burger burger salad. You can add seeds for more nutrition. And there are ways to cut calories. But here’s a list of options for starters:

 
BASIC SALAD INGREDIENTS

 
SALAD ADD-ONS

 
SALAD DRESSING

A burger salad begs for a delicious vinaigrette. Here’s our template for making a vinaigrette recipe you’ll love.

 
However, before you avoid salad oil, ask any nutritionist, the FDA or the American Heart Association: Two tablespoons daily of a heart-healthy oil are important for general health and specific conditions*. The recommended oils are monounsaturated, and include avocado oil, canola oil, olive oil and peanut oil.

It’s time to stop looking old-school at “calories” and “fat”—an old school way of looking at diet—and focus your choices on health and nutrition.
 

Plan B: Top your burger with a salad.
Photo courtesy Umami Burger | Hudson
Eats.

THE SALAD BURGER

Instead of topping salad with a burger, you can top a burger with salad.

Far more than a bunless burger or “diet burger”—the type served by our local diner and others, which plates a burger patty with lettuce, tomato, onion and a scoop of cottage cheese—a salad burger tops your burger with a flavorful salad.

As you can see in the photo, it can be simple mixed greens, very lightly dressed. Since the burger is America’s favorite food, if you’ve been meaning to add more salad to your diet, here’s your chance.
 
*A BIG FOOTNOTE ON HEALTHY FATS

Monounsaturated fats deliver many health benefits, including:

Andrea Correale, CEO of Elegant Affairs Caterers, sent us two yummy sandwich recipes to celebrate the day. Both replace the bread with waffles. The result: a wafflewich!

Waffle sandwiches require the extra step of making fresh waffles. Frozen waffles don’t taste anywhere as good.

To assauge any waffle guilt, check out our recommended whole grain pancake and waffle mixes.

Don’t miss the recipe for the BLT Wafflewich, below.
 
 
RECIPE #1: HAM & CHEESE WAFFLEWICH

When a wafflewich includes cheese, the sandwich is even better if you place it in a panini press to melt a bit.

Ingredients Per Sandwich

 
*For big eaters, you can make a triple decker sandwich (three waffles). If your waffle recipe contains sugar—which is normal for breakfast waffles—cut it back to 1/2 teaspoon or none at all.

†We added sweet and spicy pickle chips to the sandwich before grilling in the panini press. Check out our article on the best pickles.
 
Preparation

1. COOK the waffles in a waffle maker.

2. PLACE the ham and cheese, lettuce, and tomato between two waffles, with the pickle chips if desired (or, serve the pickles on the side). We added Dijon mustard between the ham and cheese layers.

3. PLACE the waffle sandwich in a panini press and cook until the cheese is gooey. Remove and serve immediately with the sides.
 

A twist on the BLT: a BLT Waffle Sandwich. Photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers.

RECIPE #2: BLT WAFFLEWICH

You can make this a vegetarian sandwich with Morning Star Bacon Strips or Lightlife Smart Bacon, and/or Baconaise bacon-flavored mayonnaise (one of our favorite mayos). These products get their bacony taste from natural smoke flavor and other seasonings.

You can also add sliced avocado, chicken, or turkey.

Ingredients Per Sandwich

1. PILE the bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and the optional avocado, chicken, or turkey on the bottom waffle. If using iceberg lettuce, we find it helpful to slice it in slabs from the head, so the lettuce will lie flat on the sandwich.

2. SEASON with salt and pepper as desired.

3. SPREAD the top waffle with mayonnaise. Place the top on the sandwich and anchor with toothpicks as necessary.

4. SERVE with sides.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.