Orange omelette for pimps and harlots

[Baroque Mongoose]

I was in two minds whether to put this here or under Mediaeval Music, but then I thought about the possible directions in which this thread might go, and I thought... no. Best put it here.

On Tuesday night I went to hear the Orlando Consort singing a selection of (mostly) mediaeval music at the university where I work. I hadn't heard them live before, but I've got some of their recordings, which I very much like. They are absolutely awesome live, and you can also tell they're enjoying themselves immensely, which is infectious. It was a great concert.

Well, they had some of their recordings for sale, so I bought one... it would have been rude not to, don't you think? This was the one that Angus Smith had discussed in some detail during his pre-concert talk, which was quite fascinating (and I may at some point post one of the points he raised, but over in the Mediaeval Music area where it more reasonably belongs). It's called Food, Wine and Song, and it is a selection of mediaeval pieces which all have some kind of connection with food and/or drink. There are harvest songs, market day songs, drinking songs (obviously), songs about specific types of food, songs which pretend to be about food but are actually about... um... other things , and even one song which basically boils down to, "Wow. What a party that was!".

It gets better. These songs are accompanied by a beautiful little hardbacked booklet which contains not only the words and the usual background information, but also a selection of mediaeval recipes, worked into an intelligible modern format by a variety of top chefs, and each of them carefully chosen to go with one of the songs. To go with the song Von Eyren, which is an extraordinary celebration of eggs, there is a recipe called Orange omelette for pimps and harlots. That's pretty specific, don't you think? I mean, I've heard of shepherd's pie, but...

Now I don't know if music be the food of love, but I have observed that music often goes with a love of food, and indeed I've never known a singer who wasn't also something of a gourmet. So I'm now wondering if the rest of you can think of any recipes, not necessarily mediaeval, which have some kind of musical connection, or for that matter any music outside the mediaeval era which has a connection with food. You never know, we may be able to start the Brightcecilia Recipe Book!

[sospiro]

I can't think of any recipes at the moment but I'm sure there are plenty.

Rick Stein drew a parallel between opera & food in his programme last year.

[Philidor]

Great thread! Not quite on topic but Google reveals:

One of Beethoven's favorite foods was macaroni and cheese. He also loved strong coffee - exactly 60 coffee beans to one cup.

Beethoven never married even though he did propose to plenty of women who rejected him (he wasn't very attractive and he had a rather nasty temper).

Source

The source is not exactly Groves Encyclopedia but it has the ring of truth.

Other composers' favourite food (without checking)

• Brahms: black pudding
• Mahler: bread and water
• Schubert: frothy jelly
• Mozart: [ame="http://www.brightcecilia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=540"]baked beans[/ame]
  
• Mussorgsky: vodka
• Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE: swan

[Stlukesguild]

I find myself wondering what food would go with atonal music... not that I'd be likely to try it myself.

[Baroque Mongoose]

Philidor: if I had that much caffeine in my system, I think I'd have a nasty temper too.

Stlukesguild: I have two words for you. Heston Blumenthal. If anyone can do atonal music cuisine, that is the chap.

[sospiro]

I once likened John Relyea's voice [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAGwLYfdmM4"]YouTube - MACBETH, MET 2008: Act 1 (2) Giorno non vidi mai...Due vaticini...S' allontanarono[/ame] to 70% chocolate and a friend decided to give him the nickname Il Cioccolatissimo

Recipe

[Baroque Mongoose]

Both the voice and the recipe are wonderful! I think they possibly mean 8 eggs, though, not 8 grammes of eggs. That would take some very careful separating.

[Scott Good]

Originally Posted by Baroque Mongoose

So I'm now wondering if the rest of you can think of any recipes, not necessarily mediaeval, which have some kind of musical connection, or for that matter any music outside the mediaeval era which has a connection with food. You never know, we may be able to start the Brightcecilia Recipe Book!

Of course, one must reference Rossini in this kind of discussion!

He gave up composing for cuisine, and his most important legacy in this regard is the Tournedos Rossini - yummmmm!

Tournedos Rossini

Ingredients:
4 beefsteaks
4 slices white bread
butter
100 gr hover for conversion paté foie grass
0.25 dl hover for conversion madeira
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2.5 dl hover for conversion tasty bouillon
salt
pepper
butter

Preparation:

Cut the cold paté in 4 equal slices and marinate 1-2 hours in the madeira. Cut the slices bread to the size of the tournedos and fry in little butter golden brown.

Prepare:
Drain the paté, keep the madeira. Melt butter, add flour and simmer till pale brown. Add while stirring the bouillon and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook about 2 minutes, lower the heat, add madeira and season with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm. Place the bread on preheated dishes.
Warm the slices paté in some butter in a small sauce pan.
Fry the tournedos in a mixture of butter and olive oil on both sides brown in a frying pan. Put 1 tournedos on each slice bread and top with a slice paté. Drizzle the madeira sauce over and garnish with a mushroom.
Serve with potato croquettes and a luxuary vegetable.
olive oil
4 cooked mushrooms

[Baroque Mongoose]

I'm a vegetarian, but I know a young tenor who'd enjoy cooking and eating that. He says if the singing thing doesn't work out (though, actually, there is no reason why it shouldn't), he might become a chef instead.

[sospiro]

Originally Posted by Baroque Mongoose

I was in two minds whether to put this here or under Mediaeval Music, but then I thought about the possible directions in which this thread might go, and I thought... no. Best put it here.

On Tuesday night I went to hear the Orlando Consort singing a selection of (mostly) mediaeval music at the university where I work. I hadn't heard them live before, but I've got some of their recordings, which I very much like. They are absolutely awesome live, and you can also tell they're enjoying themselves immensely, which is infectious. It was a great concert.

Well, they had some of their recordings for sale, so I bought one... it would have been rude not to, don't you think? This was the one that Angus Smith had discussed in some detail during his pre-concert talk, which was quite fascinating (and I may at some point post one of the points he raised, but over in the Mediaeval Music area where it more reasonably belongs). It's called Food, Wine and Song, and it is a selection of mediaeval pieces which all have some kind of connection with food and/or drink. There are harvest songs, market day songs, drinking songs (obviously), songs about specific types of food, songs which pretend to be about food but are actually about... um... other things , and even one song which basically boils down to, "Wow. What a party that was!".

It gets better. These songs are accompanied by a beautiful little hardbacked booklet which contains not only the words and the usual background information, but also a selection of mediaeval recipes, worked into an intelligible modern format by a variety of top chefs, and each of them carefully chosen to go with one of the songs. To go with the song Von Eyren, which is an extraordinary celebration of eggs, there is a recipe called Orange omelette for pimps and harlots. That's pretty specific, don't you think? I mean, I've heard of shepherd's pie, but...

Now I don't know if music be the food of love, but I have observed that music often goes with a love of food, and indeed I've never known a singer who wasn't also something of a gourmet. So I'm now wondering if the rest of you can think of any recipes, not necessarily mediaeval, which have some kind of musical connection, or for that matter any music outside the mediaeval era which has a connection with food. You never know, we may be able to start the Brightcecilia Recipe Book!

Is this it - it doesn't mention the recipe book.

[ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Wine-Song-Orlando-Consort/dp/B00005OB1Z/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I10PYJ6M7TKBVG&colid =2I2G8G59PKJCO[/ame]