When The Fort’s Sam’l P. Arnold died in his sleep last week, he left the Denver food community with an encyclopedia of anecdotes.
The night before he died he had dinner with friends in Scottsdale, sharing stories and jokes. Although generally known for establishing The Fort as a major tourist and dining destination, Arnold achieved myriad accomplishments.
The advertising man-turned restaurateur researched 19th-century books and diaries kept by trappers and traders along the Santa Fe Trail to turn his former home into a living-history dining experience.
It is estimated that The Fort serves more than 50,000 buffalo dinners annually, and not just in the form of steaks. The menu includes such items as Rocky Mountain oysters, buffalo steaks, quail, elk and duck – even history-
based desserts, such as the Trapper’s Fruit Sundae, a warm compote of dried apples, apricots, raisins and toasted pecans topped by vanilla bean ice cream. The treat was reportedly eaten by mountain men.
The Fort served quinoa at a time when diners were still wrestling with the pronunciation of the ancient grain. When Arnold traveled he returned with recipes he felt would work with his culinary philosophy, always focused on the foods of the West.
He studied cooking with James Beard and at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, in addition to taking classes in Sri Lanka, Thailand and China.
Susie Roser, concierge for Tony’s Meats and Specialty Foods in Littleton, is among hundreds of Denver locals familiar with Arnold’s trademark mountain cry of “Waugh,” which was invariably preceded by a poem that became a Fort tradtion:
“Here’s to the childs what come afore, and here’s to the pilgrims what’s come arter. May yer trails be free of grizzlies, your packs filled with plews, and may you have fat buffler in your pot. WAUGH!”
Party pro
Everyone who knew Arnold knew he loved hosting parties and he loved watching his guests enjoy themselves.
Patty Limerick, professor of history and faculty director of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, met Arnold through the Western History Association.
“From there we became regulars at The Fort,” she says. “I’ve known a lot of people who are witty and charming with great vitality and generosity. Sam was at the top of that list. It will be a quieter world without him.”
Roser remembers Arnold’s sense of humor.
“I think that we should all shout ‘Waugh’ at once so that Sam can hear us,” Roser says. “I’m sure that we will at a celebration of his life. I am certainly going to miss him, his storytelling and love of food.
“How he loved to try and get me with trick food questions. His absolute favorite was to ask if I (or anyone else) had any Bombay Duck – making poultry departments everywhere scramble to figure out what he was talking about. Bombay Duck is really a dried fish that is used as a condiment with curries.”
Charles Albi, former executive director of the Colorado Railroad Museum, remembers Sam Arnold, the cook.
“In 1997 when we opened the new library for the museum, Sam re-created a dining-car meal that might have been served on a railroad in the 1880s,” Albi says. “He researched and researched and came up with a multicourse meal.”
Albi still has the menu: Mulligatawny soup; a fish course called “Bismarck’s herring”; broiled quail on toast; saddle of venison with currant jelly, served with boiled new irish potatoes; and asparagus tips.
“Dessert was something he called Lady Cake, an arrangement of ladyfingers with crème anglaise. Sam brought in his crew and set up the place like an army field kitchen,” Albi says. “Remember this was held in a library that wasn’t set up for serving a large sit-down hot meal to a bunch of people, but somehow he pulled it off. People still talk about it.”
The International Association of Culinary Professionals honored Arnold for lifetime achievement in 2005. There were a number of high points in The Fort’s 40-year history, not the least of them the night he fed world leaders during the 1997 Summit of the Eight meeting in Denver.
Arnold is also remembered by Kyle Wagner, former dining critic for The Denver Post: “One of the many things that I admired about Sam Arnold was that, unlike so many restaurateurs who immediately responded to any negative criticism by either personally attacking me or imagining that no such things could ever have happened in their establishments, Sam always assembled his crew, came up with a list of ways they were going to fix the problems and then sent me a list of the fixes, with the request that I anonymously return to check up on the place as soon as possible,” she says. “That’s class.”
Staff writer Ellen Sweets can be reached at 303-820-1284 or esweets@denverpost.com.
Memorial service
A memorial service for Sam’l P. Arnold will be held June 28 at 10 a.m. at the Chapel at Johnson & Wales University. June 28 would have been Arnold’s 80th birthday.
A reception will immediately follow at the Johnson & Wales Event Center. The service will be open to the public. The chapel is at 7150 Montview Blvd.
Pumpkin Walnut Muffins
These moist, dense muffins contain about twice as much pumpkin as other recipes, so they bake longer at a lower temperature. From The Fort, this altitude-tested recipe makes about 4 dozen.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease 3-inch muffin tins or line with paper.
Mix all ingredients together. The batter should be easily scoopable. If it is too thick, add a little more water. Fill tins three-quarters full and bake 40-45 minutes. Let muffins cool before removing from the pan.
Jalapeños Stuffed with Peanut Butter
At first, Sam Arnold thought these sounded “stranger than a five-legged buffalo,” but they became his trademark. When “The Today Show” came to Denver, Bryant Gumbel ate eight in a row.
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the pickled jalapeños in half lengthwise not quite all the way through, leaving the halves attached at the stem end. Using a knife or spoon, remove the seeds and ribs under running water. Pack the halves with peanut butter, press together, and arrange on a serving plate.
Be sure to warn guests to put the whole pepper (except the stem) in the mouth before chewing, to get 70 percent peanut butter and 30 percent jalapeño. A nibbler squeezes out the peanut butter, changing the percentages and making it very hot indeed.
Note: Major Grey’s chutney mixed with the peanut butter gives a nice fruity sweetness that also buffers the burn.
