Harvey on a Roll

Mary Martha and the Parker House

Release Date: July 19, 2024

Parker House and the Saturday Club

While researching the lost and found story of Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker, I came across scores of articles which incorrectly tied Mary Martha and her Parker line to another prominent Parker line, that belonging to Harvey Drury Parker, founder of Boston’s Parker House.

Mary Martha was a descendent of the Newtown/Cambridge Parkers, while Harvey was from the Reading Parkers. Although the two Parkers could potentially share some common DNA way back in England, the two lines had little in common once they got to the New World. ¹

So, I found it interesting that Mary Martha’s family, which so closely guarded their lineage, and spent so much time and energy making sure everyone knew who they were and where they belonged in Boston’s highly stratified social system, would allow such misinformation to exist, much less be repeated.

I wondered what Harvey brought to the social table.

It turns out he brought a dinner roll.

Well, more than just a dinner roll, he also brought a world-class hotel and dining experience connected to some of the biggest American celebrities of the day.

Harvey arrived in Boston in the 1830s and quickly set about making a name for himself in the hospitality business. By 1855, he’d saved enough to open a hotel on Tremont Street that bore his name. The rest, as they say, is history.

His eponymously named Parker House was the first hotel in America to offer the European plan, meaning guests paid just for the room, and things like food and beverages were paid for separately. This was a novel idea at the time, and one which allowed Harvey to push his restaurant staff to produce some of the best quality food in town, rather than just putting something on the table, as was the norm.

One of the things his staff created became known as the Parker House Roll, and it was an instant hit, but we’ll get back to that in a bit.

The other thing Harvey’s hotel was famous for was hosting the Saturday Club, a gathering of great minds and men that met one Saturday afternoon a month from three to nine at the Parker House.

Organized in late 1855 or early 1856, according to a biography of the Club founding members included:

“four poets, one historian, one essayist, one biologist and geologist, one mathematician and astronomer, one classical scholar, one musical critic, one judge, two lawyers and one banker.

This classification is rude.

Three of the poets were essayists; among the men of letters the professions represented, for [Oliver Wendall] Holmes had been a practicing physician, [Ralph Waldo] Emerson and [John Sullivan] Dwight had been clergymen. [James Russel] Lowell and [John Lothrop] Motley, later, represented their country in European Courts, and [Richard Henry] Dana refused such an opportunity; Judge [Ebenezer Rockwood] Hoar became Attorney-General of the United States, and [Cornelius Conway] Felton became president of Harvard University, in which [Louis] Agassiz, [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow, [James Russel] Lowell and [Benjamin] Pierce were professors. Pierce was the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, [Samuel Gray] Ward, although the representative of a great English banking house, had marked artistic and literary gifts.” ²

And that list alone may go a long way in explaining why Mary Martha and her Parker family allowed the press to report that they and the Reading Parker family were closely related.

If you’re interested in history or a fan of early American literature, I whole-heartedly recommend reading The Early Years of the Saturday Club, 1855-1870. Based on club notes, diaries of and correspondence between members as well as interviews, the book is filled with stories and memories that bring these giants of literature and the arts to life unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s available to read free online at Google Books or you can get a copy of your own on Amazon. Let me know what you think!

Back to those Parker House Rolls

Although most sources suggest Parker House Rolls were introduced to the world in 1874, I’ve found multiple references to them before that time, including this recipe which was published in the Staunton (VA) Vindicator on January 1, 1869.

The famous Parker House Rolls are made in the following manner: Make a hole in two quarts of flour and pour in one pint of curd milk that has been boiled, with a cup of butter melted in it. Add a quarter of a cup of sugar, and half a cup of good yeast, Let is stand without mixing two or three hours. Salt to taste. Then knead it, and set it to rise again in the pans before baking. The rolls require about fifteen minutes to bake in a quick oven. ³

Two years later, a somewhat more detailed recipe for Parker House Rolls appeared in The Cecil Whig from Elkton, MD on June 8, 1872, this one submitted by a Mrs. Hammond.

One quart flour. Make a well in the center, heaping the flour high as possible about it. Pour in a half-cup of yeast. Warm a half pint of milk, with a teaspoonful of white sugar, and a lump of butter half the size of an egg, and a little salt. Stir it in gently with the yeast, preventing it, if possible, from running over the flour. Place it in a warm room, but not a very warm place. At noon, mix it and knead thoroughly. Possibly a little more flour may be required. Let this sponge rise until a half an hour before you desire to bake the rolls. Work it over again; roll it out half an inch thick; cut it into strips about four inches wide and perhaps six long. With the hands, roll the two short sides towards one another until the two rolls meet; pinch up the ends into the usual form of rolls; rub melted butter over the top, to give them a rich brown when baked. Place them in the baking-pan so they will not touch. Allow them to stand an hour, then bake in a quick oven. ⁴

The recipe we know today likely stems from the 1930s, however.

The story is that FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt were so taken by Parker House Rolls during one of their frequent visits to Harvey’s establishment, that — although the recipe was a closely-guarded secret — the First Lady requested the recipe be sent to the White House cook, Henrietta Nesbitt. ⁵ Henrietta later included it in her cookbook, The Presidential Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and their Guests.

The recipe that follows comes directly from the present-day Parker House kitchen.

Parker House Rolls

Ingredients

• One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 cup)

• 2 cups whole milk, at room temperature

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• 7 1/2 to 8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping

• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions 

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the yeast with the water and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let stand until foamy, 10 minutes. Beat in the remaining sugar, 3/4 cup of the butter and the milk, eggs and kosher salt. At low speed, stir in the 7 1/2 cups of flour until the dough comes together; add more flour by the tablespoon, if necessary. Mix at medium speed until the dough forms a loose ball around the hook, 3 minutes. Brush a large bowl with some of the melted butter. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 hours.

2.  Preheat the oven to 375-degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a 9-by-16-inch rectangle. Using a floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise into 3 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 12 small strips. Working with 1 piece at a time, fold it unevenly so the top half slightly overlaps the bottom half. Tuck the overhang under and place the roll seam side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, forming 2 rows of 9 rolls on each baking sheet. Each roll should just touch its neighbors, but leave about 4 inches between the rows. 

3. Bake the rolls for about 18 minutes, until browned; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Immediately brush the rolls with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer the rolls to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. To reheat, toast in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Whatever the recipe, the key to Parker House Rolls is the shape, sometimes referred to as a pocketbook or folded oval. Legend has it this special shape came into existence because of an argument between the Parker House’s baker and a guest. In anger, the baker slapped the dough onto the pan and popped the whole lot into the oven. The result was a roll with a crispy outside and a delicate inside made easily accessible by a fold.

Despite the legend, creating that iconic fold is something of an art form.

In 1912, a woman named Bertha Palmer Haffner-Ginger was put in charge of the Times School of Domestic Science, a new initiative of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, with the goal of teaching women across California how to cook. Weekly classes took place in a specially-designed lecture room and school kitchen which featured individual cooking tables, and focused on the preparation and nutritional value of one line of food each session. ⁶

During the spring of 1913, one of those classes focused on breads, including Parker House Rolls, which Bertha claimed she’d learned to make on location in Boston.

“Yes, I learned how to make them in the Parker House in Boston. I had my rolls and coffee sent up to my room and the way I dissected those rolls – well, ladies, I coaxed and teased and begged, till I finally got into the kitchen and saw just how it was done.”

After reviewing the recipe and making the dough, Bertha demonstrated how to create the distinctive fold that made Parker House Rolls so delicious  It was, according to an article of the day, “a demonstration worth going miles to see”.

“She clipped off enough dough to roll between her hands into a round little ball – as big as – well – as – say a nice, round little lime.

“She rolled it briskly until it was round as a marble and then she laid it down on the board and cleft it right through the middle with a knife handle (first flouring the handle) pressing it down as to make a deep dividing line and the roll was almost cut in two – but not quite. This process gave it the oval, instead of the round shape. Then she brushed it lightly with melted butter and turned it gently on its left side in the baking pan. When the pan was filled with rolls, she brushed their tops lightly with milk and put them in the warming oven to rise.” ⁷

While Bertha would influence a generation of home cooks through the Times School of Domestic Science, she would unwittingly leave an even greater mark on the American food scene. In 1914, she published, “California Mexican-Spanish Cook Book”, a collection of kitchen-tested recipes she’d gathered from local cooks, food sellers and restaurants.

One of those recipes was for a little-known dish called a taco. But that’s a lost story for another time!

Copyright 2024 Lori Olson White

Have you ever loved a dish so much that you asked the chef for the recipe? I’ve done it a few times, including a few years ago at our favorite brunch spot in Dubai. (Sadly, they’re no longer in business). Their 24-hour braised beef short ribs were to die for, and are now a staple of brunches at the White house. Let’s dish on favorite recipes we’ve asked for in the comments!

Call Me A Bastard is a weekly serialized book that tells the true and scandalous story of Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker. New chapters are released each Tuesday beginning June 25, 2024. Subscribe today, and we’ll deliver Call Me a Bastard and a bunch of other fantastic free content to your email each week!

If you enjoy bonus content like this, or just want to support The Lost & Found Story Box, we’d love to have you as a paid subscriber. Your paid subscription helps support Call Me a Bastard and future projects and gives you access to exclusive content like Author Q&A Sessions, Guest Features, Fan Engagement Opportunities, Virtual Wrap-up Parties, Unlimited access to the Story Archives and more!

Read Call Me a Bastard from the beginning.

The Lost & Found Story Box is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

---

^Endnotes

¹  Augustus G. Parker, “Parker in America 1630-1910: What the Historians Say about Them; What a Large Number Say about Themselves; Genealogical and Biographical; Interesting Historical incidents”, Niagara Frontier Publishing Company, Buffalo, NY, 1911.

² Edward Waldo Emerson, The Early Years of the Saturday Club, 1855-1870, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918

³  Farm and Fireside, Staunton Vindicator, Staunton, VA, January 1, 1869. P1.

⁴ “Bread and Bread Making: The Parker House Roll”, The Cecil Whig, Elkton, MD, June 8, 1872

⁵ Susan Wilson, Heaven, By Hotel Standards: The History of the Omni Parker House, Mrs. Roosevelt and the Rolls, p. 28-29, 2014. https://issuu.com/nieshoffdesign/docs/omniparkerbook

⁶ “The Times” New School of Domestic Science: Great Institution for Benefit of Women of Los Angeles and Vicinity will be Open under Management of an Expert Woman – Lectures and Private Instruction in Special Quarters,” The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, November 10, 1912, P. 13.

⁷ “Yesterday at the Times School of Domestic Science Conducted by Mrs. Bertha Haffner-Ginger: Cooking as a Fine Art: For Women Homekeepers. Fascinating Talk on a Fascinating Art.”, Los Angeles Daily Times, Los Angeles, CA, March 18, 1913, P. 24.