Remembering Michael Holahan

Mike and Julie with William, James and Isabella

Mike Holahan's death last week, at age 57, leaves a void for his family – his partner in life and business Julie, daughter Isabella and sons William and James – as well as shoppers and fellow merchants at the Reading Terminal Market, and the Philadelphia food community.

I won't repeat the facts of Michael's life, including how he started the Pennsylvania General Store and his leadership of the Reading Terminal Market Merchant Association. You can read them in his Philadelphia Inquirer obituary and at the funeral home's website.

Instead, I'll simply recount two parts of his life (with some video help): one I only learned about after his death, the other one I lived with him.

What I didn't know was how committed Michael was to his church and religion. But I should have, for it was an extension of his love for his family. I learned of this when, seeking directions to attend his funeral, I visited the website of Michael's church, Gloria Dei, and found among the list of sermon videos one Michael delivered on March 13, just three days before he died. It shows the side Michael I knew -- funny, friendly, thoughtful and lightly showing his knowledge of food production -- and the side of Michael that I didn't know, committed to making a better world through his faith. This 20-minute video captures the man:

Another Michael is the one I first met more than 25 years ago, a man passionate about food and the people who bring it to our tables. This was when he started the Saturday Morning Breakfast Club, a gathering of foodies on that day which attracted anywhere from a half-dozen to three dozen participants.

Our topics were wide ranging, and frequently featured guest speakers, both merchants and outside experts.

One of the more memorable sessions was for Valentine's Day. Mike had arranged for the pastry chef from Deux Cheminées to discuss how to make chocolate truffles. Unfortunately the pastry chef had emergency dental surgery, so the restaurant's proprietor, Fritz Blank took his place, bringing along a friend who was attending the Philadelphia national convention of the Association of American Scientists, who Fritz knew through his former career as a microbiologist. The friend was Harold McGee, the author of On Food and Cooking. McGee brought along samples of cocoa beans both fresh and in various stages of processing and explained the science of making chocolate. So as not to disappoint the many ladies who attending in hopes of making truffles, Fritz gave them the recipe.

The Saturday Morning Breakfast Club also served as an introduction to the people of the market, including its managers (Marci Rogovin when the club started, then Paul Steinke when he came on board), and merchants. Ann Karlen stopped by to talk about the Fair Food Farmstand before it opened. Luminaries from the Philadelphia food community also visited to share their stories and expertise, including Jack Asher of Asher's Chocolates (Mike sold a food invention of his, Keystone Crunch, to Asher). Indeed, the regional history of chocolate manufacture was one of Mike's passions: you can read an earlier entry on this blog about a talk he gave on the subject here.

I don't have any video of our sessions at the Saturday Morning Breakfast Club, but when Mike was president of the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association they briefly put together series called "Cooking IQ". Here's one where Mike interviews Tom Nicolosi of DiNic's on how he cooks his meat, and shows the inquisitive foodie that was Michael:

Philadelphia & Chocolate: History

Wilbur Buds

With the big dedication ceremony complete, the Reading Terminal Market got into the nitty gritty of regional food lore in the first of its week long programs in the Rick Nichols Room.

Leading off at noon on Monday was Michael Holahan, co-owner of the market's Pennsylvania General Store and president of the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association, who provided an overview of the region's role in the chocolate industry.

Today' candy industry, Holahan explained, grew out of the mom-and-pop confectioneries that could be found in almost any burg with a railroad depot, to provide quick treats for passengers. In eastern Pennsylvania, many of these shops had been established by immigrant Germans, who brought their traditional recipes over from the Old World. With the introduction of industrialization in the late 19th century some of the shops kicked up production, and found markets beyond their little towns for some of the treats they created. Among those in the greater Philadelphia region that attained renown were Zagnut, Goobers, Raisinets and Snow Caps.

One Philadelphia confectioner came up with the brilliant idea of placing filled chocolates in a box. Although Whitman's no longer manufactures in Philadelphia (it was bought out by Russell Stover), the concept lives on.

The German candy tradition was supplemented in the big cities, Holahan said, by Jewish candy-makers. In Philadelphia the most prominent product coming out of that lineage today would be Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, which Holahan said the Goldenbergs started as a ration during World War I.  Although, like most of the small chocolates firms it has been taken over by a larger company, Just Born (maker of Peeps), Peanut Chews continue to be manufactured in Philadelphia -- because Just Born wants to keep its Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, plant peanut-free.

In his talk Holahan also recounted the birth of the Wilbur Bud, how Milton Hershey sold off his Lancaster caramel manufacturing business to found his model community and orphange and make the Hershey bar on the side, and the eventual duopoly battles between Mars and Hershey, especially once Mars in the 1960s started processing its own chocolate rather than buying $30 million worth a year from Hershey.

For additional reading on the subject Holahan recommended Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Joël Glenn.