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Dining Car Mystery Sauces<

Subject: Mystery Sauces
From: Saul
Date: 11/12/2020, 8:42 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

On 11/11/2020 6:42 PM, Saul wrote:

Dear Uncle Phaedrus:

I am reading comments in a railroad group and they are talking about
the cooking, and some mysterious sauces they used: Guildmaster Sauce
and E.S. Q. sauce. Have you ever heard of them?

Saul

Hello Saul,

Guildmaster Sauce is mentioned as a dressing for a steak sandwich on this Pullman Dining Car menu entry: Waterlevel

Pullman Car Services Magazine has this to say: SRMEG:

Pullman Car Services Magazine September 2006 #43
"Guildmaster Sauce" is a minor ingredient required in the Pullman cookbook for the
preparation of several salads, also some cooked dishes.
We have never been able to track down the maker or the ingredients of this product.
Manufactured mid 30s to at least 1940.
Can you insert my question about it to readers of your next Pullman News? Who
knows, Guildmaster Sauce could be English.
Neither the Chicago Public Library, the Newberry Library (where much of Dubin's
materials are), nor even a researcher into historic American condiments have been
able to locate a reference to it. Curious as Pullman usually preferred major brands for
their food preparation. None of the numerous Pullman aficionados I have contacted
by email or snail-mail have a clue.

This menu mentions it this way "American, Swiss or Guild-Master Blue Cheese with Crackers": Scholars Archive

The wording of that entry makes me think that it was a brand of blue cheese rather than a brand of sauce. Perhaps "Guildmaster Sauce" was  simply a blue cheese dressing made with Guildmaster blue cheese. I could not find any mention of a Guildmaster brand of blue cheese.

Amazon has this book, with Pullman Dining Car recipes. I have no idea whether it mentions Guildmaster at all. It's quite rare and expensive.

Dining à la Pullman: The History of Pullman Dining Service, 1866-1968 by Terence Mulligan (Author), Peter Tilp (Author), Karl Zimmermann (Author)

I could find nothing on "E.S. Q. sauce" at all.

I'll post this for reader input.

Phaed

A cheese sauce on steak is not unknown to Philadelphians! A blue
cheese sauce is something different, and would be a "gourmet" touch.
I've been gathering railroad cookbooks and it is quite interesting,
more elaborate sometimes than you would ever think.
Thank you so much.