Fool's Gold Loaf

Fool's Gold Loaf is a sandwich made by the Colorado Mine Company, a restaurant in Denver, Colorado. It consists of a single warmed, hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with the contents of one jar of creamy peanut butter, one jar of grape jelly, and 1 pound (450 g) of bacon.

Fool's Gold Loaf
TypeSandwich
Place of originUnited States
Region or stateDenver, Colorado
Created byColorado Mine Company
Main ingredientsBread, creamy peanut butter, grape jelly, bacon
Food energy
(per sandwich serving)
~8,000 kcal[1]

The sandwich's connection to the singer Elvis Presley is the source of its legend and prolonged interest. According to The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, Presley and his friends took his private jet from Graceland, purchased 22 of the sandwiches, and spent two hours eating them and drinking Perrier and champagne before flying home. The story became legend and the sandwich became the subject of continued media interest and part of numerous cookbooks, typically focused on Presley's love of food.

Origin

There are two accounts on the origin of Fool's Gold Loaf. According to Graeme Wood, it was created by Cindy and Buck Scott, owners of the Colorado Mine Company restaurant. Wood writes that Presley obtained the recipe from the Scotts so his personal chef could make it, but noted that "the Fool's Gold Loaf never made a recorded encore".[2]

According to Nick Andurlakis, he helped create the sandwich while he was a chef at the Colorado Mine Company and suggested the dish to Presley. Andurlakis said that he personally delivered the sandwiches to Presley on the night of his visit.[3]

The sandwich was named to fit the restaurant's mining motif.[4] At the time of Presley's visit, it cost $49.95[5] (equivalent to $257 in 2022).

Preparation

The recipe has been repeated by numerous sources, including The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley and Andurlakis, a chef at the Colorado Mine Company.[6][7] The Fool's Gold Loaf begins with a loaf of French (which can also be substituted with Italian) white bread that is covered in two tablespoons of margarine and baked in the oven at 350 °F (175 °C) until brown. 1 pound (450 g) of sliced bacon is fried in oil until crisp and drained. The loaf is sliced lengthwise, hollowed out, and filled with peanut butter, grape jelly and bacon.[8]

According to Andurlakis, he personally served Presley the Fool's Gold Loaf with bacon, peanut butter, and blueberry preserves on a loaf of French bread.[9] The specific type of preserves was allegedly Dickinson's blueberry preserves.[3]

Elvis Presley connection

David Adler's book contains a detailed account of the event that made the Fool's Gold Loaf sandwich famous.[10] On the night of February 1, 1976, Elvis Presley was at his home at Graceland in Memphis, entertaining Captain Jerry Kennedy of the Denver Police Department and Ron Pietrafeso of Colorado's Strike Force Against Crime. The three began discussing the sandwich, and Presley decided he wanted one right then. Presley had been to the restaurant before, while in Denver.[10]

Kennedy and Pietrafeso were friends of the owners, so they were driven to the Memphis airport and boarded Presley's private Convair 880 jet, the Lisa Marie, and flew the two hours to Denver. When they arrived at Stapleton International Airport at 1:40 AM, the plane taxied to a special hangar where the passengers were greeted by Buck Scott, the owner of the Colorado Mine Company, and his wife Cindy, who had brought 22 fresh Fool's Gold Loaves for the men.[10] They spent two hours in the hangar eating the sandwiches, washing them down with Perrier and champagne.[10] Presley invited the pilots of the plane, Milo High and Elwood David,[11] to join them. When they were done, they flew back to Memphis without ever leaving the airport.[10]

Coverage

The Fool's Gold Loaf connection to Elvis Presley dominates the media's coverage of the subject. It was widely reported as "legend" by the media; including the NBC's Today,[7] The Joplin Globe,[12] and the Gloucester Daily Times.[13] Doug Clark, a columnist for The Spokesman-Review, recounts the popular story and writes that the Fool's Gold Recipe is "surprisingly tasty" and notes that it contains around 8,000 calories (33,000 kJ).[1] The popular legend and sandwich were also noted by the Smithsonian.[14]

The recipe has been included in numerous publications and cookbooks, including David Alder's book The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley. Alder's work continued with the television documentary The Burger and The King. Another publication by Alder, Eating the Elvis Presley Way, was later released.

The Fool's Gold Loaf has been detailed in Ramble Colorado: The Wanderer's Guide to the Offbeat, Overlooked, and Outrageous.[15] The Peanut Butter and Co. Cookbook refers to the Fool's Gold Loaf legend and ties it to the peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich, also known as the "Elvis sandwich".[16]

In addition, the sandwich and its connection to Presley is featured in the 2013 romantic comedy The F Word (What If), with The Last Leg showing it off as well, in order to promote the film.

A Fool's Gold Loaf was one of the ingredients used in the 2018 "Grill Masters: Memphis" episode of Chopped.

A 3 pounds (1.4 kg) version of the Fool's Gold Loaf, known as the "Elvis Challenge", was prepared by Kansas City, Missouri restaurant Succotash during a 2019 episode of the Cooking Channel's Man v. Food.

See also

References
  1. Clark, Doug (August 18, 2007). "A Meal to Die For - Elvis Sandwich Could Leave You All Shook Up". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  2. Wood, Graeme (May 28, 2011). "Big Hunk o' Love". TheDaily.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014 – via gcaw.net.
  3. Herrera, Dave (August 16, 2012). "Elvis's beloved Fool's Gold Loaf sandwich was born in Denver". Westword. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  4. Sanders, Mark (August 16, 2012). "Nick Andurlakis on Elvis's beloved Fool's Gold Loaf sandwich and how it was conceived". Untold Stories. Denver Westworld. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  5. Godoy, Maria; Fulton, April (January 8, 2013). "Elvis Left The Building Long Ago, But His Food (And Music) Lives On". NPR. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  6. Deegan, Carol (August 18, 1993). "King Cuisine". Star-News. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  7. Coffey, Laura. "Eat like the King – and keep the Tums handy". Today. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  8. "Nick's Cafe - Home of the Fool's Gold Loaf". Nick's Cafe. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  9. "Nick's Cafe - About Us". Nick's Cafe. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  10. Adler, David. (1993), The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, Three Rivers Press.
  11. "'The Lisa Marie': Elvis Presley's Convair 880 Jet Airplane | Elvis Articles". www.elvis.com.au. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  12. Meeker, Scott (August 14, 2007). "Fool's Gold Loaf: A sandwich fit for The King". Joplin Globe. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  13. Meeker Scott (August 22, 2007). "The King liked his PB&J slicked with a touch of grease". Glouster Times. Archived from the original on January 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  14. Rhodes, Jesse (September 9, 2011). "Five Funky Ways to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  15. Peterson, Eric (2008). Ramble Colorado: The Wanderer's Guide to the Offbeat, Overlooked, and Outrageous. Fulcrum Publishing. ISBN 9781933108193.
  16. Zalben, Lee (2005). The Peanut Butter and Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop. Quirk Books. ISBN 9781594740565.
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