Campus News

UPK Shares Story of the Man Behind the Cake Mix

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 28, 2014) — Mention the name “Duncan Hines” to most Americans today and they will undoubtedly conjure the image of a cake mix package. With fictitious advertising characters like Betty Crocker and Otis Spunkmeyer, no one can blame them if they fail to recognize the significance of the man for whom the cake mix is named. In "Duncan Hines: How a Traveling Salesman Became the Most Trusted Name in Food," University Press of Kentucky author Louis Hatchett, delves into the life of the food pioneer, from his upbringing in Bowling Green, Ky., where his Grandma Duncan taught him to appreciate the art of good cooking, to his lucrative licensing deal with Proctor & Gamble.

The forerunner of American restaurant critics, Hines realized his passion while working as a traveling salesman in the 1920s and 1930s. There were no chain restaurants and finding a quality place to eat on the road was often difficult and posed serious hazards that we rarely concern ourselves with today. Hatchett follows Hines’ culinary road trips across 20th-century America as he discovered restaurants, sampling everything from fine wine in the St. Regis Hotel in New York to tamale pie at the Melody Lane restaurant in Los Angeles. Hines offered his recommendations to readers in the best-selling "Adventures in Good Eating" (1935).

He went on to compile classic cookbooks, including "Adventures in Good Cooking" and "The Dessert Book," both of which have been rereleased to coincide with the biography. He included recipes from some of his favorite restaurants, dishes collected from his family, and his own creations which often used innovative ingredients he encountered in his journeys. Several even served as the basis for many of the mixes that later bore his name on grocery store shelves across the country.

Not only did Hines write about where and what to eat, he wrote about how to eat as well. He transformed the act of eating into an art form, asking people to taste their food instead of gulping it down “like an old hound dog in Kentucky.” Hatchett also chronicles Hines’ crusade to keep Americans who enjoyed the adventure of eating at restaurants safe and healthy. Hines lobbied for better-educated restaurant employees, and in 1943, the Duncan Hines Foundation was founded. It offered scholarships to students in hotel and restaurant management programs and was one of numerous projects he developed to promote restaurant sanitation across the country.

Duncan Hines is more than just a brand name — he was a fiercely independent businessman who could not be bought at any price. Hines was determined at all costs to protect the integrity of his reputation because he recognized its value and what it meant to the millions who placed their faith in him. Hatchett tells the story of an average man who came to America’s attention, gained their trust, and because of it, became an American icon. Hines paved the way for today’s celebrity foodies such as Guy Fieri and Anthony Bourdain and inspired Americans to fall in love with food from across the nation and recreate it in their own kitchens at home.
 

The University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, representing an association that now includes all state universities, five private colleges, and two historical societies. Led by Director Stephen Wrinn, its editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Offices for the administrative, editorial, production and marketing departments of the press are found at UK, which provides financial support toward the operating expenses of the publishing operation.  

Recipes from Duncan Hines’ two cookbooks include:

Chicken with Rice (Serves 4 to 6)
Ingredients:
4 lb. chicken
1 onion—minced
1 tablespoon parsley
2 whole cloves
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups soup stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut chicken into pieces. Braise onion, parsley, cloves, and butter with chicken for a few minutes. Add tomato sauce and soup stock to mixture and let simmer until done. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cooked rice.
Pilot Butte Inn, Bend, Oregon

Pennsylvania Dutch Cheese Pie
Ingredients:
4 eggs
½ lb. cottage cheese
½ lb. sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Pinch of salt
A little lemon and vanilla flavoring
1 10-inch unbaked pie shell
Directions:
Separate egg yolks and whites. Press the cottage cheese through a sieve. Cream together the cottage cheese, sugar, egg yolks, flour, salt and flavoring. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Bake in unbaked pie shell in 400° oven for 25-30 minutes.
Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu