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Fans of MGM musicals may
remember Xavier Cugat as the Spanish bandleader who held a chihuahua in one
arm while he waved a violin bow as a baton with the other arm in numerous
films such as Bathing Beauty (1944), Week-End at the Waldorf
(1945), and Neptune's Daughter (1949).
Xavier
was discovered by Enrico Caruso in Cuba, and
Enrico brought Xavier and his family to the United States.
Xavier
initially found work a
cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times. He organized a band at night
which quickly caught on because of its unique Latin rhythms, and soon Xavier
became known as "The Rumba King."
Xavier
later
led the popular
Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for 16 years. He
shuttled between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years,
alternating his hotel dates with his movie appearances.
He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as
saying, "I play music … make an atmosphere that people enjoy. It makes them
happy. They smile. They dance. Feel good - who be sorry for that?"
Xavier often made the
headlines with his womanizing and
his four marriages since many women apparently loved Xavier's wandering
chihuahua. His
marriage to his second wife, Lorraine Allen, ended when she caught him in
bed with the band's lead singer, the luscious Abbe Lane. Xavier then married
Abbe until he found her in bed with another man. In April 1966, the 60-year-old
Xavier married the 20-year-old
singer Charo who soon became a headliner in Las Vegas and later a staple on
Celebrity Squares talking about her "coochee-coochee" with "Cugie's"
chihuahua.
Their marriage ended in 1977.
Xavier once
explained his complicated love life to a Los Angeles Times reporter:
"I like women - all women… . Also, there is my temperament. I am Latin. I
excite. For me, this is life."
Xavier became a celebrity icon and has been
referred to in countless films and television shows including a Disney
Goofy cartoon, Woody Allen's Sleeper,
All in the Family, and M*A*S*H*. He is even mentioned in
the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. But
one of the more recent references and the one that has prompted the
following dessert celebration of his birthday, was
from an episode of The
Simpsons,
when Lisa finds an ice cream flavor
called “Xavier Nougat”, to which Homer replies, “No… [I don't want]
nothin' made o' dead guys.”
Making Xavier Nougat Ice Cream is an ideal way to celebrate Xavier's
lifewhich we suggest pairing with a DVD of Week-End at the
Waldorf and remembering a time when one could stay in a New
York hotel without becoming infested with bedbugs.
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Xavier Nougat Ice
Cream
(with apologies to Ben and Jerry)
Special Equipment
Ice cream maker |
Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
1&1/2 cups milk
1&1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup honey |
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted,
chopped
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Instructions
1 Lightly whisk egg yolks in a
large bowl.
2. Combine remaining ingredients, except vanilla and almonds, in a
heavy saucepan over medium
high heat. Stir frequently until mixture just comes to a boil.
3. In a steady stream, slowly whisk mixture into beaten egg yolks.
4. Return mixture to pan over medium low heat and cook, stirring
constantly, until it registers 170°F
on a candy thermometer (do not boil).
5. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and strain mixture through a fine
sieve into a bowl. Stir in almonds.
Cover and chill in refrigerator. Freeze in an ice cream maker 20-30
minutes until frozen. |
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© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes |
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