Reading Between the Lines...and the food stains

As you may or may not know, Sophie Dahl is not just a writer of recipe books. Before her career ventured into cookery she was a famous plus sized model, journalist and author. In this post I'm going to take a look at the formation of Miss Dahl as a household name, and how she differs from other writers of cookery books. Below is Dahl's introduction to her book.

Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights acts as memoir as well as a recipe book. The book is divided into seasons and at the beginning of each section Dahl rambles for a few pages about her life and the food that has added to her experiences. The book begins with Autumn: "because that's when everything changed. Autumn is a season I love more than any other; for its smoky sense of purpose and half-lit mornings, its bonfires, baked potatoes, nostalgia and Catherine wheels". I'm sold... lets start with Autumn.

Dahl's style of writing is delectable; like the food that she cooks she densely populates her sentences with words. With a similar tact to her grandfather, Roald Dahl, the words that she uses her lustrous, long and exuberant. Sophie doesn't rush with what she is saying, her sumptuous language is dictated in an idle tone, thus reflecting her privileged and opulent lifestyle. Dahl is from a moneyed background, and it is difficult to escape this fact when reading her books. However, she is not obnoxious and arrogant about wealth, it is just a normality to her life which has obviously always been present.

Unfortunately, I am not blessed with privileges that match Dahl's, and reading her tales from an ordinary background can at times be amusing. The phrase "how the other half live" springs to mind. The memory that I most enjoyed was Dahl's account of her fall into a career in fashion. As like Dahl's tone, everything happens with ease. She notes: "It was late September. I was eighteen. I had experienced a rather unceremonious exit from school. I had no real idea about what I wanted to do, just some vague fantasies involving writing, a palazzo, an adoring Italian, daily love letters and me in Sophie Loren sort of dress, weaving through a Roman market holding a basket of ripe scented figs" (wouldn't we all like that Sophie!) "You're going to secretarial college to learn something useful (...) I ran out onto the still, grey street, sobbing. I threw myself on a doorstep and lit a bitter cigarette. And then something between serendipity and Alice in Wonderland magic happened. A black taxi chugged to a halt by the doorstep on which I sat. Out of it fell a creature that surpassed my Italian imaginings (...) It transpires that she was called Isabella Blow; she was contributing editor at Vogue and something of a fashion maverick (...) 'I was crying about my future.' I said heavily (...) 'Oh don't worry about that. Pfff!' she said. 'Do you want to be a model?'" 

And that is how little Miss Sophie Dahl became a model, and consequently famous. 

In her plus-sized days.

One of her many Vogue covers. 

This is one of my favourite shoots which is Dahl's most recent.

Dahl caused much controversy in the papers when she decided to shed her weight, transforming herself from size 16 to a size 10. In 2003 Dahl published her first novel, which was followed by a succession of hits, as well as writing as a journalist for US Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, The Observer, The Guardian and The Saturday Times. However it was eleven years after her modelling career, at the age of 31 that Dahl published her first cookery book, the one that I hold in my hands. The book was a massive success, and Dahl went onto write and present a six part documentary on BBC 2, named "The Delicious Miss Dahl", which I thoroughly recommend watching. Below is a link to an interview by Andrew Marr with Dahl talking about her cookery book, weight loss and other endeavors. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uELv10H3r-Y

Dahl doesn't hide the fact that she loves food, and I think it is sad in a way that she has lost so much weight as her enjoyment of food obviously connected with her size. As Marr said in the interview, Dahl was a role model for the larger woman, maybe the release of her cook book is a way to show her relatability to ordinary people. It is clear to see that Dahl has reinvented herself, and has moved from being just looks, to being sophistication, intelligence and wit. I think that the glamour of her past is appealing to readers of her book, and I myself was drawn in by this characteristic. She is a relatively private person, however the glimpses that the public do see can be very artificial. The book for instance is very beautiful, but the scenes in which she is photographed are staged and slightly unnatural. The complimenting documentary is similar, Dahl attempts to connect with normality by tasting the food with her fingers or getting a smudge of chocolate on her cheek, yet it is hard to forget that the life that Dahl leads is far from ordinary, but this is what I like about the world of Dahl; it is escapism. By cooking her recipes I can grasp a part of her fantastic life; the glamour, the fame, the beauty and the perfection. Even though the recipes that I did make were delicious, they were not for the faint hearted or meger skilled cook. The food is as decadent as the book, and at times I feel it is a book to be admired rather than used. 

Below is a mock clip of Sophie Dahl. It gave me a giggle, I hope it does you too. 

The Lemon Mousse Disaster

As I was confident that my cookery skills were developing at a rapid rate, I decided to venture into the more ambitious recipes and thus decided on the rather tangy tasting Lemon Mousse for dessert. Dahl introduces the recipe with a nostalgic look back into her childhood: " When I was a little girl this was the Sunday standard request. I use the recipe handed down to me featured in my grandfather and step-grandmother's cookbook, Memories with Food at the Gipsy House" 

Sophie Dahl is of course the granddaughter of the famous author, Roald Dahl whose equally famous residents, The Gipsy House is located in my village of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. Every morning and evening I would walk past his home on my way to and from school, and from the field next to his home you can just about see the beautiful hand painted gypsy caravan from which the house is named after. Even though Roald Dahl died before I was born, his home and his novels have played a major part in my childhood, which maybe why I was initially drawn to reading Sophie Dahl's work. I felt a connection to Sophie's comment about her younger years in my hometown and thus made myself nostalgic for times past. The Lemon Mousse seemed even more of a perfect recipe to round up my cooking fun. 

Perhaps with a little too much arrogance about my cooking abilities, I began. The first line dictated: "Dissolve the gelatine with the lemon juice in a bowl over simmering water". The action seemed simple enough until I tried to carry out the task, for the one and a half teaspoons of gelatine was a lot trickier to measure than I first expected. However, I dissolved a very rough estimate of gelatine into the lemon juice and hoped for the best. The rest of the recipe was pretty straight forward; I separated the egg yolks from the whites, whisking the yolks with the sugar and beating the whites into soft peaks. It was then the job of combining the different ingredients together at the correct time using the correct method. With a few hitches I managed to make a relatively tasting looking mixture, which I poured into a large glass bowl and placed in the fridge to set. 

I left the mousse in the fridge for the rest of the day. Evening came and I was excited at the prospect of delicious lemon mousse for dessert. I took the bowl out of the fridge and in my hands was NOT lemon mousse. I must of got the gelatine measurements very wrong because the cream had separated from the mixture and was floating on top of the sloppy gloop like scum on a river. I thought I would be brave and taste the unappetizing mess in the bowl... it was NOT nice. So the mixture went in the bin and I settled with boring old fruit for dessert.

The next day I popped round to my Gran's house for a cuppa and a catch up and proceeded to tell her about my disastrous attempt at making lemon mousse. My Gran and I are very much the same in many aspects, and she was determined to not give up on the lemon mousse. I took another visit to the supermarket and bought the ingredients, but this time we opted for powdered gelatine instead of the dissolvable silver leaf kind. Later on in the day I visited my Gran again and attempted for a second time to make the fabulous and fantastical lemon mousse... and it was a success! It is safe to say that my Gran's help was much needed and if left to my own devices I would have destroyed yet another kitchen in the process of trying to make a masterpiece. Below are some photos of the making process and of course some of my lovely Gran.

 And this is the finished article which was enjoyed by all my family, especially me!

Chuffing Good Chocolate Cake

Chocolate and I have had a long and beautiful relationship. After lasting a total of a day in my attempt to give up chocolate for lent, I went with my basic instinct and made Dahl's Flourless Chocolate Cake. The introduction to the recipe is enough to compel you to want to make the cake and eat it all instantly... preferably alone! Dahl begins: "This is the mother of all chocolate cakes. It is incredibly rich and very good cold from the fridge, smothered in creme fraiche. Eat it at your discretion."

Luckily I was home for reading week, so once again I had full access to all of my Mum's cooking equipment which saved a great deal of time and energy. Firstly, I pulsed the sugar and chocolate in the food processor. It didn't take long, just the right amount of time to nibble on a cube of chocolate. Next I separated the egg whites from the yolks, a task that I really didn't enjoy! However, due to my Mum's handy egg separating tool it meant that I didn't have to touch the raw egg too much.

I placed the egg whites in the Kenwood mixer and let the machine do the hard work, whipping the egg whites until they were stiff. Whilst the Kenwood was doing its job, I mixed boiling water, butter, the egg yolks, coffee powder and vanilla extract in the food processor until the ingredients made a smooth mixture. I then added the egg whites, mixed and voila the mixture was ready to pour in to the ready prepared cake tin. Proud of my skills I lifted the cake tin in a triumphant gesture...but there was a problem. I had used the wrong cake tin, and combined with the runny mixture, it began to seep through the cracks in the tin. After a quick yell for Mum's help, we managed to save the sumptuous mixture and transfer the chocolate loveliness into the correct tin. It then went straight into the oven before any other mishaps could occur.  

The chocolate cake wasn't a normal sort of cake. After leaving it to bake for an hour in the oven, I removed the cake to discover that the mixture had not become a cake, it was still very much liquid in form. I didn't despair, but turned back to Dahl's instructions, and read: "After you take the cake out of the oven it will collapse in on itself quite a bit". Well, my cake hadn't quite "collapsed in on itself" but I hoped for the best and left the cake to cool. Once it had cooled, it went straight into the fridge.

I left the cake in the fridge overnight and for the majority of the next day. Then in the evening I invited my grandparents round for tea and a slice of my attempt at chocolate cake. As I mentioned previously, Dahl's Flourless Chocolate Cake isn't a traditional cake. The moist and dense texture makes the cake more of a dessert. I served my cake as recommended by Dahl, with creme fraiche and fresh strawberries and blackberries. Below are a few videos of my parents and my grandparents opinions on my cake... I promise I didn't make them say anything. 

The finished cake. 











My Grandparents enjoying a slice.









All mine!

 

 

Clucking Lovely Chicken Stew

Tempted by the rustic photograph and chilled by the bitter winter winds outside I decided to make Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives. The stew seemed a little different from the traditional recipes that I was accustomed to. The ingredients were light and Mediterranean in style thus formulating a summery stew, maybe not as warming as I had wished for a meal on a cold day, but even still the recipe was appetizing and a little intriguing.

So after banishing everyone from the kitchen and claiming it as my own territory I began...

First I heated the cauldron sized pot on the hob, adding a touch of olive oil. When the oil was to a sizzling temperature I dropped in the fresh chicken breasts; with a hiss they started to fry. I wanted the chicken breasts to go golden, so I left them to brown for a while. I had to be careful though, because with the attention span of a goldfish I have the high probability of leaving food to burn. However, much to my own criticism the chicken cooked successfully and even with my cat consistently meowing and glaring at my feet, drawn by the strong aroma arising from the hob, the chicken was complete and in one piece ready for the next stage of the recipe.

After removing the chicken and placing the pieces on a plate to cool far out of the reach of my cats licking lips, I chopped and prepped the fennel and garlic. I then tossed the fragrant veg into the still hot pot. The smell from the frying vegetables was instant and really set my tummy rumbling. After the fennel and garlic had been frying for a time, I added a large cup of white wine, along with a tin of chopped tomatoes. As the cauldron had now got to an astronomical heat I moved the pot to another section of the hob, switching the heat to a lower temperature to allow the ingredients to simmer. After a quick cup of tea and little dance around the kitchen I added the chicken, popped the lid on and let time and heat do its job.

The stew couldn't have been easier to make. It was a simple task of chucking in the correct ingredients at the correct time, and leaving the concoction to bubble on a very low heat for a very long time. When my parents got home from work, I made a fluffy white rice to accompany the stew, added olives and basil and served my meal with the remaining white wine. Apart from the minor error of using stoned olives instead of pitted, the dinner was a hit. The rice made the stew more suitable for a winter's day and the crusty white bread I had bought  (definitely not made, I'm not that good!) soaked up the sauce... and the two bottles of wine!

Once again, Dahl's recipe had been easy to follow and the discourse informal, chatty and friendly. I don't know what all the fuss is about this cooking malark...it's easy *wink wink*.