Religion: Brother Baker’s Dozen

Brother Aloysius did his best to avoid the ladies’ eyes at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus last week. He had taken twelve first prizes for his cooking skill. In baking he had four firsts (enriched white bread, plain oatmeal rolls, coconut-pineapple coffee cake, kolacke yeast roll). In canning there were five firsts (pears, lima beans, carrots, asparagus, tomato juice), in frozen foods three firsts (apples, red raspberries, cauliflower). But tall, stooped Al Hochendoner, 38, of the Marianist order, was upset about his angel food cake, which only drew a fourth. “I don’t know what got into that poor soul of a judge,” he sighed. “I guess all I can do is pray for her.”

Brother Al joined the Society of Mary, a teaching order, at 15. Three years later, the brother in charge of the kitchen was transferred from Dayton, and Brother Al was made cook for the order there. “I remember the first thing I did was to poach some eggs. I had to feed 27 people. Well, I got this five gallons of water and got it boiling. Then I began dropping the eggs in. Boy, did I have egg soup!”

Brother Aloysius learned to love serving God over a hot stove; he collected recipes and took a correspondence course in cooking. Summers he went to Columbus to cook for the brothers attending Ohio State, and three years ago he first decided to compete at the fair. “The brothers teased me: ‘You couldn’t get to first base.’ So I thought I’d show them.”

When Brother Al’s parents celebrated their soth wedding anniversary last year, he baked a 300-lb., 5 ft. 9 in. cake for the occasion. One of the brothers, who was working for his Ph.D. in physics, designed a base with pegs to hold the cake, which had to be moved on a flat-bed truck. Now Brother Al has other projects on the fire, notably an 800-lb. cake in the form of a cathedral to help celebrate the Marianists’ centennial. “I’m also shooting for the Pillsbury recipe contest—that’s the $25,000 one. Sent in 20 entries last year. If I hit that, it’ll really be something.”