"Epistolary Fisticuffs"

There's a delicious spat going on between Anna Ford & those two terrors, Amis & Hitchens. Ford, a former newsreader, whose beauty once made her the pin up of the chattering classes, has taken issue with Amis' self-pitying, misogynistic ways, & rebuked him for his callous treatment of her late husband, Mark Boxer. Amis has responded to this attack, and Hitchens, implicated as a boorish accomplice, & never known for his self-restraint, has also jumped into the fray to sling a few barbs. Ford has just written another letter to the Guardian today,, in faintly conciliatory tones. This is so very, very Guardian...

Oddly Compelling Building (Available!)

Too Much Lard

I followed Jane Grigson's recipe for Eccles Cakes. Exactly. They were unspeakably horrible. The pastry was so short they just fell apart as they cooked, & they had an overpoweringly lardy flavour ... too porcine by far. I felt my arteries hardening as I tasted one. Disgusting taste & serious health hazard. They were so bad I had to throw them out. Now I know that J.G. knows her stuff, & I have eaten many Eccles Cakes that tasted NOTHING like the ones I made. The problem has to be the leaf lard I used, & I suspect that British lard has to be substantially different. I've tried researching this, but with no luck. It's really too bad, because the spiced currant filling (currants, butter, sugar, allspice, nutmeg) was sublime. Perhaps I'll try them again with a butter/lard shortening combo that goes very easy on the lard.

Going, Going ....

Walking along Fifth Avenue between 9th and 12th, you can see how many stores are empty, or on the point of going under.

Alexander McQueen, 1997

I'm no fan of Charlie Rose, but this 1997 interview with Alexander McQueen is worth watching.

The Ghost Writer

Saw the latest Polanski film yesterday. It's good stuff - Polanski still knows how to do suspense. There are many reviews out there, & almost all of them point out the analogies between the plot (loosely based on the post-leadership travails of Tony Blair) and the real-life circumstances of the director himself. I'm not going into that except to say that yes, the roman (ouch) a clef element is a big part of the film's appeal.* But there are lots more things to enjoy. Smart camera work, great sets (the look of the film is one of dark, stylized menace)& an outstanding score that drives the action along with a classic, jittery zip. Generally a fine cast, & I was particularly happy to see Olivia Williams in a leading role. She's an interesting actress to watch, with something of the rangy ferality of Charlotte Rampling. As many critics have noted, the closing shot of the film is a brilliant one, but stick around for the credits too, & see the way Polanski makes every second on the screen count.
* One caveat though. The plot seemed a bit shaky in places & I had to stop the logistics of it from bugging me & just get on with enjoying the fun. A real, but minor irritation.

Henning Mankell

The Guardian has an interview with the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, best known for his dark, brooding Kurt Wallender crime novels. Mankell lives part time in Mozambique, where he directs a theater company, and has written extensively outside the realm of detective fiction. He is married to a daughter of Ingmar Bergman, and is working on a four part biographical drama about the director. The final Wallender novel (really the final one this time) will come out next year.

Hitchens Q & A

An hour of Hitchens (ha ha), including a youthful 1980's version of same. This is a bit dated & on the long side perhaps, but quite enjoyable.

Out of the Freezer

A chicken & sorrel soup. The sorrel has a beautiful, tart, lemony tang. This is a bright flavour for late February...

Le Noeud

A noeud is a flaky, croissant-like pastry, made with hazelnut flour & flavored with cardamom. I had one at Bouley Bakery & Market today, along with some good, piping hot coffee. There's a good selection of sandwiches & light buffet meals, but the bakery items are the most impressive. Next time I'd go for the pain aux raisins, a small golden treasure I had a hard time resisting. The dining room at Bouley is certainly on the staid side, but really comfortable. The tables are sturdy & well spaced apart, & the seats made to sink into. This is the perfect spot for a lingering, read-the-papers, late breakfast. Here's a Serious Eats review from last fall.

Eccles Cakes

Here's a baked treat, described by the poet Tony Harrison as his "petite madeleine". At Neil Cooks Grigson, where Neil continues his heroic journey through Jane Grigson's English Food, it's time for Eccles Cakes, small pastries enclosing a spiced currant filling. The big question is whether a true Eccles should be made with flaky or shortcrust pastry & whether the choice of pastry turns it into something else, such as a Chorley, or even (heaven forbid) a Banbury Cake. Chorley is another Lancashire town, somewhat on a par with Eccles. Banbury is in Oxfordshire & nothing like its northern cousins at all.
I would definitely try the lard/shortcrust pastry version first.

Barclay

Today I was unlucky enough to end up at the Barclay School Supply store, in downtown Brooklyn. The place is a monument to educational incompetence. Amidst the dizzying array of commercial teaching aids, forlorn & rather bored teachers wander, gathering their materials. One woman, chatting on her cell phone, was discussing recent lessons with a New York City theme:
"Somebody did the Statue of Liberty, & the Empire State Building's been done too. Still, there's a lot of city landmines left, aren't there?"

Seventh & 27th

Dufour

So much for lighter food. A few days ago I bought a packet of Dufour puff pastry, & I'm thinking of making a seriously British steak pie. Ditto (possibly, if I dare) a steamed beef pudding with suet. I feel as though I should just go for it - in a few weeks winter will be over & the time for this kind of food will be gone. I've never made a meat pudding (in a bowl, simmered in water on top of the stove) before, & though the word DISASTER! flashes before me, I think I will pay it no heed. The last thing on the list, & easiest of all to make, is a ground lamb shepherd's pie with a golden brown potato topping.

Gastrique

Blake Royer, over at The Paupered Chef, explains how to make a gastrique, a vinegar & sugar reduction used to brighten up sauces.

Baked Goods

I'm still thinking about the awful food in Barnes & Noble. I'm also thinking about a recent Bittman recipe for whole wheat muffins. Though I have plenty of respect for American baking (doughnuts, cherry slices, key lime pies) surely muffins & cupcakes are two of the most insipid & overrated foods ever. Is there anything worse than a dull-textured cupcake with a sickly frosting, or a huge, sweet, mealy muffin studded with a few splodges of blueberry? Bleh. I suppose I'm being unfair, & perhaps there are delicious examples out there, but even at their very best they make for insipid eating. Leave the cupcakes to the kindergarten set, & ditch the muffins altogether.

Books....Reviews...

I'm still awaiting the arrival of my book order from Amazon, so today I decided to go over to the horrible Park Slope Barnes & Noble, to get some interim reading material. While there I idled away a certain amount of time in the cafe, looking at magazines, and in The Atlantic, what did I discover but a glowing review of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, by none other than (of course) Christopher Hitchens? I fear I'm in a very specific demographic niche when my interests are met so tidily. Hitchens calls the novel "a magnificent service to the language and literature whose early emancipation it depicts" and suggests that "anyone who has been bamboozled by the saccharine propaganda of A Man for All Seasons should read Mantel." Anyway, after this rousing & thoughtful review I went downstairs and picked up a copy of an earlier HM work, An Experiment in Love. I'm content.
Incidentally, the Starbucks practice of displaying the calorie count of their food pleases me no end. It's a complete disincentive to my buying any of their nasty crap & stops dead in its tracks my occasional urge to buy the least offensive of their bland, sugary fare.

Ten Commandments

One Good Move posted a link to a lecture Christopher Hitchens gave last summer, in Canada. Anyone for a Hitchens take on the Ten Commandments?

The Red Shoes at Film Forum

I wish it was easier to get hold of films by Michael Powell. I saw I know Where I'm Going a long time ago, but I'd really like to watch it again. I'd also like a chance to see Peeping Tom, but haven't seen it around. Next week at Film Forum, however, there's a chance to see The Red Shoes, & the 7:00pm show on February 19th will be introduced by the film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who has edited many of Scorsese's films & was married to Powell. This is an important film event.

Look of Resignation on 13th

On the Book List

An Edible History of Humanity - Tom Standage
Essays - Montaigne
Love Undetectable - Andrew Sullivan

Whatever Happened to Neck Face?

I was very fond of the Gowanus Neck Face graffiti you could see from the F train a few years back. I still see tags scattered about from time to time, but they're nothing special & much smaller than his earlier work. This van appears on my block every so often, but I don't know who it belongs to. Could it be his?

Weekend Cooking

I am trying to be a bit more efficient today. We will have venison chili for supper tonight - a token nod to the Superbowl - but I am also cooking a daube of lamb breast for tomorrow. Here's the recipe by Tamasin Day Lewis, with an accompanying video. The lamb is cooked with vegetables, bacon, wine & tomatoes, & simmers in a slow oven for several hours. It's simple to make, & tomorrow I will just skim off the fat & heat it up. The daube has been in the oven for about an hour or so, & is already filling the kitchen with the smell of meat, tomatoes, herbs & wine.
The Day Lewis video is quite interesting. It looks a bit dated, & Ms Lewis has a distinctly unglamourous kitchen, with a tiny electric stove. I suppose this gives encouragement to the home cook. She does have the Creuset casserole dish though.

Lasagne with Parmesan/Celeriac Puree

Mark Bittman suggests getting away from the standard US tomato sauce lasagna & trying lasagne with ragu bolognese & a parmesan/celery root puree. Sounds excellent.

This can't be the finished facade, but I quite like the painterly sort of look to it. Very short on windows though, & those railings aren't pleasant. This building rises between 11th & 12th Streets in a mildly secretive way.

Juana del Pipa

Here's the late, incomparable Juana del Pipa. I was trying to find out when she died, but couldn't come up with any details. She was one of the featured performers in the film Gypsy Caravan, that came out a couple of years ago. Del Pipa was part of a legendary flamenco dynasty, and also saw many of her family destroyed by drugs. What a voice.

Creepy Babies

Amazon

Yes! The Faith Instinct & the two Maria McCann books are winging their way to my door ...

Prayer

Though I have no religious faith, I'll still revel in medieval painting, in the King James Bible or the Book of Common Prayer. I'll still love church architecture, the Coventry Carol, & Faure's Requiem. As a teenager, in a strictly Church of England world, the smell of incense and the faintly taboo allure of Catholicism was distinctly appealing. Aesthetics, aesthetics... I'm still thrilled & inspired by the art of Christianity, amazed how this collective fiction could inspire such beauty. Only the art could ever have tempted me to Believe. But even as a child, caught in the dull, pious sickliness of Sunday School, I knew it all to be a lie.
At university, I fell in love with the poetry of George Herbert, a metaphysical Anglican priest whose dialogue with God is a dazzling display of devotion & technique. With no shred of belief in me, I love his work still.

Prayer
Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgramage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth;
Engine against th'Almightie, sinners towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-daies world-transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear;
Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bels beyond the starres heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices; something understood.

The Garlic Press, Yea or Nay? Or Knives II ...

I've had a number of garlic presses over the years, starting with one bought at a Terence Conran Habitat, back in the 1970's. I've always felt a bit embarassed about using them though, knowing that real cooks simply chopped or smashed those little cloves in a matter of seconds. With casual ease. Garlic presses certainly are a bit of a pain to bother with. They're are hard to clean, and, if you use the kinds that are painted metal, the acid from the garlic eventually works on them as a paint stripper. I still have one in the kitchen drawer - this one from IKEA - but these days I only use it for salad dressings. Usually I chop garlic with a knife as finely as possible & this seems to do the trick. I'm still not very good at the smashing-with-the-blade-of-a-knife process, but it's obviously something I should work on. Anyway, if this is the kind of small but pressing (sorry) matter that intrudes on your thoughts as you stand at the chopping board, The Guardian's Word of Mouth blog has a lot to say about it.

The Knives Are Out

A savage review of The Pregnant Widow from John Crace! With a vicious illustration by Neal Fox ...