Day 8

Housekeeping first.

The site only shows the most recent blogs and it is not immediately obvious how to access the earlier ones. Here is a guide.

In the top left hand corner you will find the menu icon :

Click on and you will reach the profile page. In the bottom left hand corner, in the tiniest script you will find ARCHIVE.

Click on and you will be able to see the earlier blogs.

Today’s Book

London Rules

This book starts with one of the most shocking/surprising/unexpected openings that I have read in a long time and the rest of the book lives up to it.

I love Mick Herron’s Jackson Lamb books, and while you can read this as a stand-alone novel, your experience and enjoyment of it will be much stronger if you have read the previous four. Briefly, Jackson Lamb runs Slough House where MI5 agents who have made major mistakes are sent – too dangerous (inept) to keep on the strength, too dangerous(perhaps not inept enough) to sack. Slough House is dysfunctional and Jackson Lamb is perhaps the most dysfunctional member of it and although preternaturally lazy, he does not like being left out of things.

An atrocity has occurred, followed closely by another. The PM feels vulnerable, threatened on all sides by populists, nationalists, the press – some of whom just might seem vaguely familiar. He seeks the help and advice of MI5’s First Desk, Claude Whelan, stirring up all sorts of factions within MI5 . . .

This is, at the same time, a good thriller and a very funny book. Herron manages to balance the two perfectly. He is the master of the brief throw -away line that tells you everything you need to know: He kept a bottle of champagne in the fridge for just such an occasion. It wasn’t vintage at least not when he bought it.

So, if you haven’t read any of his books before, start with Slow Horses and then the rest. Each book improves on the former. If you have read them you won’t have bothered reading this because you will already be stuck into London Rules.

Today's Music

Richard Strauss : Duett Concertino F-dur, clarinet: Thorsten Johanns bassoon:Ole Kristian Dahl

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3JVzD_1Q8

Food

One for Jo and one for Sarah

Chocolate Mousse

(4 small portions)

·      A block of good plain chocolate 65%+ (the higher the better)

·      The whites of 2 eggs whipped stiff

·      At least 300ml double cream whipped (300mls makes a very strong & chocolatey mousse which can be quite bitter. 450ml is probably best)

Method

1.    Melt the chocolate over hot water with a teaspoon of liquid (water, brandy, whisky, sherry, rum – your choice)

2.    Let the chocolate cool slightly (5 minutes)

3.    Transfer to serving dish

4.    Fold the cream gently into the chocolate

5.    With a metal spoon fold the beaten white into the chocolate mixture. Lose as little air as possible.

Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours till set.

Additions

·      Booze

·      Orange or lemon zest

·      Glace or crystalised ginger

·      Serve over cherry compote

   Add lots of good cream

A

Dahl, dal, dhal . . .

Essentially dahl is a pot of pulses cooked until they are soft. An excellent food, vegetarian, easily digested, full of protein and roughage – and you can do an infinite number of things with it.

You can buy the pulses in tins or dried. If you are using the dried, soak them in cold water before cooking. The longer you soak them the shorter the cooking time. The theory is that the dried versions taste better, but the quality of the tinned varieties has improved a lot recently.

This is the recipe that I make most often. I vary the spices according to my mood.

Ingredients

300gm split peas

A handful of red lentils

300mls stock or water

1 chopped onion

2 chopped cloves of garlic

1 cm of ginger, chopped

1 tin of tomatoes or 250gm chopped fresh tomatoes

1 coarsely chopped pepper

1 finely chopped chilli

Spices – I usually use a mixture of ground cumin, coriander, black pepper, allspice. If I feel in need of a shock to the system I add paprika and chilli. Basically, experiment.

Chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) or parsley

Salt to season.

1.    Place all the ingredients, except the fresh herbs and the salt, in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

2.    Lower the heat to its lowest setting and leave pot to simmer, stirring every now and then to check it’s not sticking. (You can also use a slow cooker if you wish. Depending on the brand, it will take about 4 hours.)

3.    When the split peas are soft (usually 1 1/2 - 2 hours) and the mixture is the consistency you want (It can vary from a soup to sloppy mash potato – your choice. If you want a soup, leave out the lentils.) remove from the heat.

4.    Add the chopped fresh herbs and stir well.

5.    Taste and add salt and more black pepper if needed.

It tastes delicious just as it is, but because I always make far too much for one serving, I vary the way I serve it.

1.    Serve it in a small oven proof dish. Make a dent in the centre of the dahl. Break an egg into the dent. Cook in the oven (180c) until the white is set. Eat with toast soldiers or bread sticks.

2.    Serve in a bowl, again make a dent in the dahl and spoon in a mixture of cream cheese or yogurt, chopped peppers, chilli, chives, tomatoes (chopped very small). Eat, using flat bread as a spoon.

3.    Serve in a bowl, again make a dent in the dahl and spoon in a dollop of very cold butter or grated cheese.

4.    Use as an accompaniment (think exciting mash) to sausages, egg and bacon, hamburgers, chops etc

5. If you want to vary the texture you can garnish it with crisp bacon strips, nuts, lardons etc

It is the most amazing comfort food – almost eclipsing mashed potato and gravy – and it is a healthy option. Perfect.

Today's Painting

The Arnolfini Marriage by Jan van Eyck (1434)

When I was a child every Christmas the National Gallery used to run lectures and tours for children and my Ma used to take us. That was the first time I saw this painting.

It fascinated me then and it still does. Every time you look at it you find something new.

At first sight you see a couple celebrating their wedding in a room - their bedroom? It would seem to be a straightforward portrait recording the celebration.

The way Van Eyck handles the light would indicate that it was painted from life - but was it?

The painting is much more than the record of an event. It is a piece of propaganda. Arnolfini is a merchant adventurer. He deals mostly in fabric which is a very competitive trade. He comes from Lucca a city in Northern Italy, not far from Florence and he is engaged in trading between Bruges and Florence. 

Bruges had become a centre for  trade in textiles for a number of reasons. Geographically it was situated on a tidal inlet that made an ideal harbour for large merchant ships. It had easy access to the southern trade routes as well as the rich cities of the Northern Hanseatic League. It was also well placed to import raw wool from Britain which was much in demand for the weavers and spinners of in the city, who were probably the most skilled wool processors in the world. Italy, or rather Florence was, as now, a centre for fashion, and was very, very rich. This meant that trade between Bruges and Florence was not only very lucrative, but very competitive. Arnolfini wanted to establish himself as a man of means.

Everything in the picture speaks of his wealth, from the rich hangings of the bed, the newfangled chandelier, the mirror - even oranges symbolise wealth. One orange would have been expensive. Arnolfini has at least four, lying casually around the room.

The clothes they are wearing are just about as opulent as you could get. (Mrs Arnolfini isn't pregnant. She looks that way because of the bulk of the fur-lined fabric she is clutching.)

This link will take you to A Stitch In Time, a programme by Amber Butchart on how Mrs Arnolfini's dress was made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u2RM1odsf4

So Arnolfini wants everyone to know that he is a coming man, a man of means, so he chooses the best artist around to do the business, Jan van Eyck. On the back wall we can see, not only Van Eyck's flamboyant signature, we can see the artist himself in the mirror.

This is a magnificent demonstration of Van Eyck's skill, because the mirror is tiny. The whole picture measures only
82 cm x 60 cm. Look at the detail of the convex mirror image itself:

If you think that is amazing, this is one of the tiny medallions in the mirror frame:

Each medallion shows the same detail.

Interpretation of the picture is an ongoing study.

What is the purpose of the dog - a fertility symbol?

Why is Van Eyck's signature so prominent - is the portrait a contract and Van Eyck a witness?

Why is Arnolfini holding his wife's left hand not her right - does it signify that the marriage is morganatic, that she is of inferior birth?

Here is a short talk about the picture from the National Gallery. Enjoy.

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-the-arnolfini-portrait