We’re off to the beach (et in Avalon ego; different jetty formations there) later this morning, thank heaven, in search of familiar and unfamiliar birds. I hope my Green Wood Hoopoes are still in residence and the dolphins are out. Jane says that she can’t get the song Blue Turns To Grey (Cliff Richard and the Shadows version) out of her head. For me, it’s Maggie’s Farm (Bert Parks version from the movie The Freshman) and I can’t imagine why that is the case. I expect things will change for both of us when we see and hear the waves.
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Oscar Wilde's London life: Cadogan Hotel's Green Carnation package
By Sebastian Lander
Last updated at 6:57 PM on 22nd August 2010
It seems you can excuse quite a lot when you spend a weekend with Oscar Wilde. Not only am I writing this with a glass of champagne beside me in mid-afternoon, I am doing so in bed. And I don't feel a bit guilty. In fact, I think Oscar would have wholeheartedly approved of such behaviour. Call it going Wilde.
It was here at The Cadogan Hotel in London's Knightsbridge that the infamous author was arrested in 1895, charged with 'committing acts of gross indecency'. One floor down from me, in Room 118, a reputedly half-drunken Wilde sat waiting for the police to arrive after refusing to flee, and ended up with two years' hard labour at Reading jail.
Going Wilde: The hotel room at The Cadogan Hotel where Oscar Wilde was arrested in 1895
To mark this turning point in Wilde's fortunes, the hotel has created the 'Green Carnation' package, named after the dyed buttonhole Wilde was fond of wearing. Guests can stay in Room 118, which contains items such as a replica of his smoking jacket, and enjoy a bottle of his favourite pink Perrier-Jouet. There is also a menu dedicated to some of his gastronomic preferences - hock and seltzer (wine and soda), absinthe and, rather incongruously, Victoria sandwich sponge cake.
The Cadogan's package includes a three-course evening meal which features more Perrier-Jouet and unlimited wine in Langtry's Restaurant, part of the hotel that was once home to Wilde's friend, the actress Lillie. And this set me up nicely for a weekend spent hot on Wilde's polished heels around the city that bore him up and then tore him down.
Many of the places associated with Wilde have disappeared, but you can still reach many of them on foot - though Wilde would have disapproved of this as he preferred to take a hansom cab everywhere.
A short walk away from The Cadogan is 16 Tite Street, where the playwright lived with wife Constance and their two sons. The house is not open but Wilde is said to have used one of the rooms that looks out on to the street in which to write. There is also the church, St James's in Paddington, where the couple married in May 1884.
To experience the most animated window on to Wilde's London life, I joined guide Alan Titchard on a two-hour stroll to some of the writer's haunts, many of them backdrops to the vicious spats between Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry, father of his lover, Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas. In Mayfair, we visited the site of the Albemarle Club - now an office block - where the Marquess left his infamously misspelled calling card 'For Oscar Wilde posing somdomite'. It was Wilde's decision to sue the Marquess for libel over the slant which precipitated his own downfall.
We also stopped off at the elegant Royal Arcade in Mayfair, where Wilde used to buy his green carnations, and on St James's Street found the wonderfully eccentric 18th Century James J. Fox Cigar merchant which supplied cigarettes to Wilde, a 100-a-day smoker.
The downstairs Freddie Fox Cigar Museum features a display of memorabilia dedicated to Wilde and famous smokers such as Churchill.
Oscar Wilde is pictured smoking a cigarette
Decadent: Oscar Wilde was a 100-a-day smoker
The walk also takes in the site of the now demolished St James' Theatre, where Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance Of Being Earnest made their debuts.
It ends back in Piccadilly, opposite bookshop Hatchards, where Wilde had an account. From here, there are a number of places that he would have sanctioned to enjoy a dinner.
These include the imposing Langham hotel in Portland Place - the setting for a meeting in 1889 between Arthur Conan Doyle and Wilde where the seeds were sown for his novel The Picture Of Dorian Gray - and Kettner's restaurant in Soho, where Wilde used a room upstairs.
Perhaps the most quirky choice for dinner is the Courthouse Hotel near Oxford Circus, which used to be the Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court, where Wilde brought his libel case against Queensberry.
Over the years, celebrities from Mick Jagger to John Lennon have been up before the beak in the oak-panelled courtroom but the only judgments being handed down now are those concerning the food.
Travel facts
The Cadogan Hotel's Green Carnation package costs £399 per person. Call 020 7235 7141 or visit www.cadogan.com. The London Of Oscar Wilde walk takes place every Saturday and costs £8 or £6 for over-65s and students. For details, call 020 7624 3978 or visit www.walks.com. For more on the Courthouse Hotel, call 020 7297 5555 or visit www.courthouse-hotel.com.
-------------------------------------- ADDENDUM: I understand that the (from what I've been told by a good friend is the utterly charming) Cadogan Hotel needs to sell rooms, even if it means trafficking in past sad events in a tawdry, tasteless way, but it seems only right to at least include a recipe, taken from BBC Good Food Magazine, for Victoria sandwich sponge cake, since: a) Wilde apparently enjoyed it; and b) it looks delicious and simple to prepare. I think it would go well with the Perrier-Jouet champagne:
Classic Victoria sandwich sponge cake
You can't go wrong with this perfect party cake - full of spongey goodness. Makes a super-simple wedding cake, too
Difficulty and servings: Easy; Cuts into 10 slices
Preparation and cooking times: Ready in 30 minutes, plus cooling
Cake base freezes well for 3 months
Directions:
Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins and line with non-stick baking paper. In a large bowl, beat all the cake ingredients together until you have a smooth, soft batter.
Divide the mixture between the tins, smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and the cake springs back when pressed. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
To make the filling, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar. Beat in vanilla extract if you're using it. Spread the butter cream over the bottom of one of the sponges, top it with jam and sandwich the second sponge on top. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving. Keep in an airtight container and eat within 2 days.
Last Friday, I wandered through a section of Manhattan I know extremely well – the corridor bounded on the south and north by 56th and 60th streets and on the west and east by 8th and Lexington Avenues. I’ve been walking on those streets for so long, I think I could navigate them blind, especially 56th and 58th Streets.
I was meeting an old friend for lunch at the impressive, increasingly Blade Runner-y looking Four Seasons Hotel and I had some errands to do.
At lunch, among many other subjects, D. and I discussed my recent urge to “retest the lows”.
Years of absorbing CNBC’s business chatter taught me the phrase. Although most “technical” stock market measuring tools confuse me in their mechanics and details (and make me think of Dr. Faustroll’s “law” of ‘pataphysics stating that “there are no laws, only exceptions that occur more frequently than others”), the tv blather has become part of my rhythm and part of me. Consequently, when thinking about several badly damaged relationships that unexpectedly fell apart during the past decade, I wondered whether it would be a good idea to revisit them, try to make contact with my former friends and “retest the lows”. After all, I place the highest value on friendship and was surprised to see each of these relationships crash and burn.
Out of the three cases in question, I’ve so far retested two of the three lows. I sent the first person an email. She phoned me back immediately, we spoke at length and it was a complete disaster that left me hideously depressed for a week. A couple of days ago I retested Low No. 2, again intiating contact by email. I received a very pleasant response and I’m cautiously optimistic about this one. (I’m an optimist by nature, albeit a depressive optimist.) As for Low No. 3 (which was actually Low No. 2 in sequence), I should say that I spend a great deal of time reading, rereading and thinking about Dante’s Inferno. I find it instructive and inspiring in a variety of ways (reading it, I'm frequently reminded of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign slogan "In Your Heart You Know He's Right") and it helped me decide that there’s no way on earth I’m retaking that particular path. The dead certain futility of that effort marks it, at the very least, as a frequently occurring exception in the ‘pataphysical sense.
After all this lows retesting, I think it’s only right to offer two U.S. “Low Country” Shrimp and Grits recipes for initial testing and consideration. I’ve always wanted to try them (I like shrimp; I love grits) and I’ll report back in a couple of weeks.
Shrimp and Grits 1
(From Bobby Flay, who credits Martha Nesbit for the recipe)
Prep Time:15 min
Cook Time:25 min
Serves:4 servings
Ingredients
4 cups water
Salt and pepper
1 cup stone-ground grits
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 slices bacon, chopped
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 large clove garlic, minced
Directions
Bring water to a boil. Add salt and pepper. Add grits and cook until water is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.
Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; drain well. In grease, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, parsley, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.
Spoon grits into a serving bowl. Add shrimp mixture and mix well. Serve immediately.
Shrimp and Grits 2
(Source unfortunately misplaced; but there are an enormous number of versions of this traditional dish.)
6 cups water
6 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups white grits (not quick-cooking or instant)
16 oz. finely grated white cheddar cheese (optional)
1 lb. fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, milk, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Stir in the grits. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (** The grits will stick to the bottom of the pan, so make sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan. If the grits absorbed all the water, add some hot water to thin out the grits.) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the cheese, if desired.
In a separate pot, add the shrimp to boiling water. Cook for three minutes. Add the shrimp to the grits and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Furled Pasta: Pappardelle with Fried Green Tomatoes
I first read this recipe a long time ago in a cookbook called A World of Pasta by Jack Denton Scott and Maria Luisa Scott. I cannot seem to locate the book at the moment, but I remember it pretty perfectly and would also note that the individual cook will definitely arrive at and learn their own preferences after preparing it a few times (which you will definitely do). I recall the Scotts describing the recipe as originating in southern Italy and being in some ways a “solution” for the late season “problem” of having a green tomato surplus. The recipe uses the “furled”, wide-ribbon pasta shape of pappardelle. Good quality dried pappardelle from Italy is available and, I think, is slightly preferable for this dish. Otherwise, you can prepare pappardelle from sheets of fresh pasta using a fluted rolling cutter to carve 1 ¼ - 1 ½ “ ribbons , which is a lot of fun.
Ingredients
4-5 medium size green tomatoes, sliced into ¼ “ slices
1 lb. fresh or dried pappardelle
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce
Flour (Wondra fine-milled flour preferred)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Good quality freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese.
1. Dredge tomato slices in a mixture of Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce and then coat in seasoned flour.
2.Fry tomato slices in olive oil until cooked and lightly crisped and browned on both sides, about 5 minutes.
3.In the meantime, cook pappardelle al dente in salted boiling water according to directions. Fresh pasta will cook in a minute or two. Dried pasta will cook in approx. 10-12 minutes.
4.Drain pasta, toss with tomatoes (including their oil), and add grated cheese to taste.
I recently embarked on a casual "project" to try to collect cocktail recipes named after celebrities. This began when I saw an arresting image of Veronica Lake (are there any images of Miss Lake that aren't arresting?) and thought that there must be a Veronica Lake cocktail recipe. So far, unfortunately, I haven't located one.
Based on his love and affinity for commercial products and nightlife, I assumed that an Andy Warhol cocktail recipe existed and wasn't disappointed. Two recipes, the first American and sort of great sounding, and the second English and, in my opinion, revolting, follow.
This is just a late summer frolic and should be taken merely as semi-interesting research data and definitely not a menu recommendation.
The two photos above feature on top a nice 1960s portrait of Andy at his studio, the Factory, and below a shot of my dog Andy (Warhol Roberts) ensconced in his own studio, his dog bed. My Andy does not drink alcohol and, like his sister, Edith (Sedgwick Roberts), pictured below the recipes in an uncharacteristically meditative pose, he favors the canine astronaut breakfast of steak, eggs and kibble.
I. How To Make An Andy Warhol Cocktail
By: Rebecca Eckstein
Break Studios Contributing Writer
Learning how to make an Andy Warhol cocktail is very easy, and the drink is delicious. All you need are a couple ingredients, and boom there you have it. This cocktail was named after Andy Warhol, who was an American painter, filmmaker, and much more.
To make an Andy Warhol Cocktail, you will need:
• Cocktail Shaker
• Crushed Ice
• Cognac
• Benedictine
• Lillet Blanc
• Orange Bitters
• Chilled Cocktail Glass
• Garnish
1. To start the Andy Warhol Cocktail you must have a cocktail shaker. You could just mix it, but the cocktail will not turn out as it should. So when you have your cocktail shaker out and ready, fill about half way up with crushed ice. Now you are ready to start adding your ingredients.
2. Adding your ingredients correctly is the most important thing when it comes to making a cocktail. If you don’t add the correct amount of all of your ingredients you could be making a completely different drink than you intend to! So pour 1 ½ oz. of your cognac, ½ oz of Benedictine, 1/3 oz of Lillet Blanc, and two dashes of orange bitters, and shake for at least 30 seconds.
3. Now that you have all of your ingredients together and mixed very well you can serve. When you are ready, get your chilled cocktail glasses out, and pour. You're not finished yet. Make sure if you're having a cocktail party to garnish all of your cocktail glasses with oranges. You can choose something else if you think it might go better.
Your Andy Warhol Cocktail is mixed and now your can sit back, relax and enjoy. Make sure you and your friends drink responsibly!
II. How To Make A Warhol Cocktail
By Contributor
Updated: May 6, 2010
A Warhol cocktail is a sweet and fruity drink that has a somewhat tropical flair to it. However, like the famous pop artist the cocktail is named after, the drink is definitely more inner city than tropical resort. The Warhol uses flavored vodkas which became quite popular in the mid 1990s, giving the drink a light taste without sacrificing alcohol content. This recipe makes one Warhol cocktail, served straight up with a lemon peel for a splash of vibrant color that Warhol would have appreciated.
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Cocktail shaker
Crushed ice
1 oz. orange vodka
1 oz. strawberry vodka
½ oz. peach nectar
½ oz. heavy cream
Chilled cocktail glass
1 oz. chilled champagne
Lemon peel, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker half-full with crushed ice.
2. Add 1 oz. each of orange vodka and strawberry vodka, and 1/2 oz. each of peach nectar and heavy cream to the cocktail shaker.
3. Cover the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds.
4. Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into a chilled cocktail glass.
5. Pour 1 oz. chilled champagne over the cocktail and garnish the glass with a freshly twisted lemon peel. Serve right away.
It catches fire at midnight it leaves the room for doubt but everything's so well defined there's only one way out. and all the girls are on tonight the coloured wheels all spin you're more aware than ever before you need a prize to win and all the funfairs will have one that is the usual theme no secret Jack in this box to help the pain within. quiet country roads and trees birds sing from a cage you understand you just lost one you step outside your rage and what's left to believe in? the children in the lake? I didn't see them go under let's try another take. pass me the bottle baby one day you'll understand we almost make the same mistakes and hold each other's hands. take this particular shade of grey just for a change I shout there's nothing in this fairground that couldn't be left out. there isn't much left to show you maybe the tunnel of love who knows we'll be there forever just like the stars above.
