Ritz crackers, invented in 1934, have become a staple snack food worldwide

By Tom Harte

This summer, the Ritz, the most famous hotel in the world, reopened its doors after a $450 million renovation.

Situated on Paris' Place Vendôme, where dukes and princes used to live, the accommodation is no less palatial than any royal residence, and those who are able to afford a room there (starting at more than $1,000 and running to as high as $25,000 a night) surely must feel like a king or a queen, which was the goal of the hotel's founder, Cesar Ritz.

No wonder Ernest Hemingway -- a regular guest who even took some of the credit for liberating the hotel during World War II (starting in the bar that these days bears his name) -- once observed, "When I dream of afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place in the Paris Ritz."

And it's no wonder that when in 1934, Nabisco introduced a new cracker brushed with coconut oil to make it look rich, it named it Ritz.

Though it contains nary an apple, this enhanced version of the classic Ritz Mock Apple Pie, served here ala mode, tastes exactly like the real thing.TOM HARTE

Just as the Ritz has become the most famous hotel in the world, the Ritz cracker has become arguably the most famous snack food in the world.

(Nonetheless, even though I've never stayed at the hotel, I feel fairly confident the evening turndown service does not feature an eponymous cracker placed on your pillow.)

Though the Ritz cracker may be the most popular -- and richest tasting -- of crackers, it was hardly the first. In fact, crackers were one of the first foods to be manufactured on a commercial scale in America.

Moreover, long before that, ancient Roman armies were subsisting on something called bucellatum, a rock-hard biscuit made from just flour, water and salt that is the precursor of modern crackers and not much different than the hardtack supplied to the Northern armies during the Civil War.

The Ritz cracker was a considerable improvement on all of these, even better than the saltine or soda cracker, invented in 1876 in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Named after the Ritz Hotel in Paris, the most famous in the world, the Ritz cracker has become the most famous snack food in the world.TOM HARTE

Not pale or square but golden and round, the Ritz was the result of leaving out the leavening and adding more shortening to make a crisper, more buttery product.

Initially selling for just 19 cents a box, it was an immediate sensation, with sales of five billion in just the first year. In just three years, it had become the top-selling cracker in the world.

Also causing a sensation was a recipe put on the back of the Ritz box for Mock Apple Pie. Consisting of the crackers soaked in a lemony syrup, laced with cinnamon and baked in a pie shell, it became all the rage during the Depression when, unlike today, apples were something of a luxury compared to crackers.

Amazingly, as I discovered recently when I served the pie to some incredulous friends, it looks and tastes exactly like the real thing. Talk about "Puttin' on the Ritz."

Ritzy Salted Caramel 'Apple' Pie

To simulate the taste of apples in the classic Ritz mock apple pie, Ritz crackers are first cooked in a lemony syrup and laced with cinnamon.TOM HARTE

This recipe adapted from Delish.com is an enhanced version of the classic Ritz Mock Apple Pie featuring not only an abundance of Ritz crackers in the filling, but also a topping of crushed crackers and a glaze of salty caramel on top.

Named after the Ritz Hotel in Paris, the most famous in the world, the Ritz cracker has become the most famous snack food in the world.TOM HARTE

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
• 2 cups water
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 60 Ritz crackers, divided
• 5 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 1 2/3 cups brown sugar, divided
• 9 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Combine water, granulated sugar and cream of tartar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add 35 whole crackers and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Fill pastry shell with cracker mixture and sprinkle with lemon juice and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.

Crush remaining 25 crackers and combine with 2/3 cup brown sugar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 5 tablespoons butter, melted. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then cover edges of pie crust with foil, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 18 to 20 minutes longer until filling has set.

Meanwhile, combine cream, remaining 1 cup brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons butter and boil for 8 minutes, stirring, until sauce coats a spoon. Cool to room temperature, drizzle over baked pie and sprinkle with salt.