Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1854) of John Philip Sousa, composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known primarily for U.S. military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as “The March King” in the U.S. and the “American March King” owing to his counterparts in other nations. Among his best-known marches are “The Liberty Bell”, “The Thunderer”, “The Washington Post”, “Semper Fidelis” (Official March of the United States Marine Corps), and “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (National March of the United States of America).

Sousa’s father was of Portuguese ancestry but born in Spain and his mother of Bavarian ancestry. Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. His father enlisted him in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. After departing the band in 1875, Sousa learned to conduct. From 1880 until his death, he focused on conducting and the writing of marches and the writing of operettas. He eventually rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director.

The classic USMC breakfast is abbreviated as S.O.S. (you probably know what that means when spelled in full) – creamed beef on toast. A number of years ago (back in the 1970’s), San Francisco’s Marine Artillery brigadier general Tiago, requested/ordered that a recipe for the Marine Corps’ famous creamed beef on toast be developed so that it could be served to a small group of about eight people, such that the general could have his wife make it at home. The official recipe for the mess halls serves 300 or more. This challenge was taken up by his chief field artillery cook, M/Sgt Bernie Parker. After many attempts and a few mistakes Parker came up with the following recipe.  The knowledgeable will note that this is made with ground beef and not chipped beef.

Recipe for “Marine Breakfast”

“(Serves 8 or two hungry Marines)

½ lb. ground beef (ground chuck for flavor)
1 tbs. bacon fat (lard/Crisco or butter)
3 tbs. flour
2 cups whole milk (add more milk if you want it thinner)
salt
pepper (to taste)
8 slices of dry toast

Using a large skillet (12″-14″), crumble and brown the ground beef with the fat and salt to taste, remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly.

Mix in the flour until all of the meat is covered, using all of the flour. Replace the skillet on the heat and stir in the milk, keep stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens (boil a minimum of 1 minute).

Serve over the toast. Salt & pepper to taste.”