Fool's Gold Loaf

Did You Know?

• The sandwich was named to fit the restaurant's mining motif.
• According to Nick Andurlakis, the specific preserves used were allegedly Dickinson's blueberry preserves.

Preparation

To make a Fool's Gold Loaf, a loaf of French or Italian white bread gets coated with two tablespoons of margarine and baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until browned. One pound of bacon is fried in oil until crisp and drained. The loaf is cut lengthwise, hollowed out, and stuffed with peanut butter, grape jelly, and the bacon. Chef Nick Andurlakis, who worked at the Colorado Mine Company, claimed he served Elvis Presley the sandwich using blueberry preserves—specifically Dickinson’s brand—instead of grape jelly. This preparation appears in The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley and other sources.

Elvis Presley connection

On the night of February 1, 1976, Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie's birthday, Presley was at his home at Graceland in Memphis, entertaining Captain Jerry Kennedy of the Denver Police Department and Ron Pietrafeso of Colorado's Strike Force Against Crime. The three began discussing the sandwich, and Presley decided he wanted one right then. Kennedy and Pietrafeso were friends of the owners, so they were driven to the Memphis airport and boarded Presley's private Convair 880 jet, the Lisa Marie, and flew the two hours to Denver.

When they arrived at Stapleton International Airport at 1:40 AM, the plane taxied to a special hangar where the passengers were greeted by Buck Scott, the owner of the Colorado Mine Company, and his wife Cindy, who had brought 22 fresh Fool's Gold Loaves for the men. They spent two hours in the hangar eating the sandwiches, washing them down with Perrier and champagne. Presley invited the pilots of the plane, Milo High and Elwood David, to join them. When they were done, they flew back to Memphis without ever leaving the airport.

Coverage

The Fool's Gold Loaf connection to Elvis Presley dominates the media's coverage of the subject. It was widely reported as 'legend' by the media, including NBC's Today, The Joplin Globe, and the Gloucester Daily Times. Doug Clark, a columnist for The Spokesman-Review, recounts the popular story and writes that the Fool's Gold Recipe is 'surprisingly tasty' and notes that it contains around 8000 Cal. The popular legend and sandwich were also noted by the Smithsonian. The Fool's Gold Loaf has been detailed in Ramble Colorado: The Wanderer's Guide to the Offbeat, Overlooked, and Outrageous. The Peanut Butter and Co. Cookbook refers to the Fool's Gold Loaf legend and ties it to the peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich, also known as the 'Elvis sandwich'.

In popular culture

The Fool's Gold Loaf is a recurring motif in the 2013 romantic comedy The F Word (released in some territories as What If), where the protagonists discuss and prepare the sandwich; screenwriter Elan Mastai has said he used the sandwich as a storytelling device. The track '01:40 FOOLS GOLD' appears on Phil Broikos' 2021 album a day in music: 1am; in notes accompanying the release, he described it as inspired by Elvis Presley's late-night flight to Denver to eat the Fool's Gold Loaf. The 'Elvis Challenge' at Succotash restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, consisting of a Fool's Gold Loaf with almond butter, blueberry jam, bacon, eggs, and cheese, was featured in a season 8 episode of Man v. Food.