Intermezzo

Die Meisterbaker

We can only imagine how thrilled Matti Salminen must have been when he learned more than just singing skills were required for his role as Gurnemanz in Cologne Opera's new Parsifal.

Director Carlus Padrissa has deemed that the veteran bass will mix, knead and bake ten loaves of bread during the six-hour show. These will be distributed to the salivating audience at the end.

For anyone who can't wait that long, the opera house is for the first time providing a restaurant service during intermssions.

Libiamo, dunkiamo

"To realise the magic of our beautiful tin simply twist the body anticlockwise and the delicately embossed horses prance to the lilting melody of La Traviata. To complete this feast on the senses the tin holds a scintillating selection of our scrumptious biscuits in seven different flavours, including our clotted cream digestives, luscious lemon thins and chocolate & macadamia nut."
Fortnum and Mason

Rene Pape's beef

It's been a while since I dipped into Die Oper kocht.  But one particular dish has been calling my name ever since I bought the treasure trove of operatic recipes. 

The instructions for Rene Pape's Sächsischer Sauerbraten mit Klößen und Rotkraut (boiled beef Saxon-style with dumplings and red cabbage) don't quite hang together, I couldn't track down the main ingredients, and I don't like dumplings. But, unlike most folk not brought up on the stuff, I actually like boiled beef and cabbage. Must be something to do with school dinners.

Cleopatra's supper club

While Egypt gets its first taste of democracy, guests at Salzburg's Whitsun Festival will be treated to a taste of Egypt.  After they've watched Cecilia Bartoli as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare in Egitto on 27 May, the privileged section of the audience who stumped up the €€€ will decamp to the splendid Karl-Böhm-Saal for an Egyptian feast.  Traditional Egyptian music will accompany the  goat cheese-stuffed dates, pita bread and tahini, and belly dancer Nabila has been recruited for the purpose of "spreading oriental flair".

Forget the traditional spaghetti - this opens up a whole raft of opera-themed dinner possibilities. How about a nice platter of Schwartenmagen after your Salome for starters?

Cake Bass

What has a deep, dark, chocolately blend of sweetness and bitterness with a fruity finish? Not just the voice of Rene Pape, but the special cake baked in his honour by the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo.

To mark Rene Pape's long-awaited return to the Royal Opera House, in Faust, I'd hoped to tackle his Sauerbraten recipe from Die Oper kocht. The difficulties in getting hold of Tafelspitz, proper buttermilk and - most importantly - Soßenkuchen in London have put paid to that idea for a while.

So instead here's the chocolate and caramel cake devised by the pastry chef of the Imperial Hotel. It was originally sold only when Kenneth Branagh's Magic Flute film (in which Rene played Sarastro) was released in Japan in 2007. Pape himself loved the cake, so when he returned to Japan May 2011 for the Met tour, the recipe was dug out again, and named the Rene cake.

On the last night of Don Carlo, he bought the cake for the rest of the cast:

The Opera Cooks - buying online

The Vienna State Opera bookshop now have The Opera Cooks available to order online, price 29.80 euros plus postage.

Alternatively you can pre-order from the Met Opera Shop, price $50 plus postage and available in late September.

Check out earlier posts to discover just why you need this book.

The opera cooks - in English

Good news. Last year's most amazing opera cook book, like, evah - Die Oper Kocht - has been translated from German.

The English version is called The Opera Cooks and is officially launched on 2 August (though you can already buy it in Salzburg at the Festspielhaus shop). I will publish ordering details once I find them out.

Sunday Koch mit Jonas Kaufmann

Jonas Kaufmann's Wigmore Hall recital tonight may not have a seasonal flavour, but his contribution to my new favourite cook book Die Oper Kocht makes up for it - a recipe for Homemade Noodles with -- wait for it -- Pumpkin!

What better excuse for a Halloween Koch-Up? I decided to give it a go.

Juan Diego Florez shares his potatoes

Even if you don't speak German, you should be able to digest at least part of the new opera-celebrity cookbook Die Oper Kocht.  And not just because it's stuffed with photos by noted opera-snapper Johannes Ifkovits.

Alongside the German text of each singer's recipe, a hand written version is served up in their own native tongue. Even the most linguistically-challenged could manage Danielle De Niese's Guacamole, Simon Keenlyside's Fish Pie and Joyce DiDonato's Cinnamon Rolls, though Renee Fleming's serial-killer handwriting makes Diva Renee au Chocolat hard to decipher. If that's not enough, an English language version of the book is promised for later in the year.

Each of the 64* featured performers gets a 4 page spread, which begins with a little amuse-gueule about what they cook and like to eat. We learn for example that Juan Diego Flórez enjoys quinoa with olive oil and parmesan before a performance, and used to phone his mother for cooking tips when he moved from Peru to the US (aaahhh). 

Then there's a full-page oven-ready portrait in jocular vein (see JDF's at the top of this post). Flipping over, we come to a double page featuring the recipe itself, copiously garnished with photos of the singer preparing his or her creation (or at least pretending convincingly).

It's not clear whether you're expected to actually cook the recipes or simply gaze at Jonas Kaufmann pawing his parmesan. But I gave it a go anyway.

Die Oper kocht - where to buy it

 

I've had a few emails asking where to buy the recently published book of opera stars' recipes, Die Oper kocht.

If you have a local bookshop, the easiest and most reliable way is to order it through them, for which you will need the name of the publisher (Rifko) and the ISBN number (978-3-9502956-0-3).

Online retailers include the bookshop of the Vienna State Opera, arcadia.at, and also morawa-buch.at, buchservice.at and buchhandel.de. All these offer the book for the retail price of €29.80, but bear in mind it weighs half a ton, so shipping costs could add quite a bit.

A seller on Amazon.de prices it at $37, with shipping within the EU at $3, which may work out cheaper overall. A reader tells me this seller does not ship to the US.

cookie cutter Mozart

Go on, you've always wanted to make cookies in the shape of Mozart's head, a grand piano and the Hohensalzburg fortress.

Haven't you?

kocht up special

Before a crack team of professional chefs cooked up nice pretty photo-friendly versions, some of the many opera singers who contributed the recipes for new book Die Oper kocht had a bash themselves. See the video evidence below. Thank goodness someone had the wisdom and foresight to preserve Roberto Alagna's apple-juggling skillz for posterity.

The book itself will be available in Germany very soon, and there may be English and Japanese versions later in the year too.

boozing with the stars

Peter Gravina was a New York broadcaster and music publicist back in the days before that meant hanging out on Twitter all day and filling bloggers' inboxes with press releases. His work brought him close to many stars of the Met. In 1964 he put his contacts to good use when he compiled The Bel Canto Cookbook, a collection of recipes and anecdotes.

From the Aperitifs chapter, here are the favourite tipples of some of the then-biggest names in opera:

tucking in with Renee Fleming

photo: Keith Scott Morton

Courtesy of The Clarion Ledger ("Mississippi's #1 web site"), who nabbed it from Elle Decor, here's the recipe for Coupe Glacee Diva Renee. The fabulous billion-calorie dessert was created for Renee Fleming by master chef Daniel Boulud - though looking at her freshly-svelte figure, it's doubtful whether any has actually passed her lips.

photo: Brian Albert Broom/ The Clarion-Ledger

Coupe Glacee Diva Renee

For the pistachio Chantilly

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup finely ground Sicilian pistachios

In a medium bowl, whisk together heavy cream, creme fraiche and sugar until soft peaks form. Add the ground pistachios and continue whisking until peaks are stiff.

Refrigerate until needed.

For the warm chocolate sauce:

• 3 (12-ounce) bars of dark chocolate (70 percent cacao)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons condensed milk
• 1/4 cup water

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Mix milk, condensed milk and water in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until melted and smooth. Keep warm or refrigerate and reheat in the microwave when assembling dessert.

To assemble the coupe glacee:

• 1/3 cup raspberry jam
• 2 pints raspberries
• 1 pint chocolate ice cream
• 1/4 cup whole Sicilian pistachios

Using a fork, mash together the raspberry jam and 8 fresh raspberries in a small bowl until well combined. Spoon mixture evenly into 4 chilled sundae glasses. Next add the layer of pistachio Chantilly and arrange the remaining raspberries on top. Then add 1 scoop of ice cream and sprinkle with whole pistachios. Pour about 3 tablespoons of warm chocolate sauce into each glass.

Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings.

Royal Opera House introduces edible food

I raise a glass to the most welcome ROH announcement of the year. Starting April 2010, the Royal Opera House's catering operations will pass from current incumbents Searcys to Company of Cooks.

Farewell clammy sandwiches, limp chicory, raspberry drizzle and the choking fug of smoked salmon hanging over the Floral Hall. (When you can get better food even in Germany - hellz, even at the Met - you know you've got a problem).

Hello cheddar & caramelised onion marmalade sandwiches, chocolate & hazelnut brownies, goats cheese, pinenut & spring onion tart, minted yellow split pea soup, black bean minestrone with cavolo nero, salt beef, French bean & shallot salad - and not forgetting mochaccino muffins.

Company of Cooks are rare amongst commercial caterers in making food you might actually want to eat. They provide the yummy soups and sandwiches on sale in the Southbank's foyer, and other locations include the splendid Kenwood House cafe, pictured below.

The other good news is that the jobs of the hardworking and super-efficient ROH catering staff are safe.
 

world's first chocolate opera house unveiled

photo:RelaxNews

Opera has the Salzburg Festival, and the world of chocolate (yes, there is one) has the Salon du Chocolat. The 15th annual exhibition dedicated to the brown stuff opened in Paris today, taking opera as its theme.

The exhibition's centrepiece is a giant chocolatey replica of the best-known opera house in Paris, the Opéra Garnier. Measuring 1m by 2m, it weighs between 350kg and 500kg and took the guy in the skid-marked apron, Maître-Chocolatier Jean-Luc Decluzeau of Belgian company Léonidas, two weeks to create. As a finishing touch, some 14,000 Swarovski crystals were added.

Though it would probably keep Johan Botha going for at least a week, sadly it's not for eating. When the exhibition ends on 18 October, it will be displayed in various Léonidas stores before being auctioned off.

The exhibition kicked off with a triple-threat dream conjunction of opera, chocolate and fashion. Chocolatiers were paired with fashion designers to create confections based on operas and operatic characters.

The Magic Flute inspired Magnum and lingerie designer Eva Rachline to stick model Laetitia Ray in an oops-my-skirt-just-blew-away pair of chocolate knickers:

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Renata Scotto's nuts

For my second dip into the Metropolitan Opera Cook Book, the legendary Renata Scotto's Tagliatelle with Walnut Sauce caught my eye. It was the photo (above) that sealed the deal. Six pans at once, not a hair out of place, and don't you just know that pasta is perfectly al dente.

Here's the recipe:

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pasta a la Pavarotti

''One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating''  - Luciano Pavarotti.

For the 1988 Metropolitan Opera Cook Book (worth buying for the photos alone) Pavarotti contributed two recipes - both pasta, naturally. I've owned a copy for a couple of years but never cooked from it, so I thought Pavarotti's Pennoni al Tonno might be a good start. Legend has it the great tenor had bowls of tuna pasta secreted around the wings whenever he performed at Covent Garden. But whatever Pavarotti ate, he clearly went back for seconds, which has to be some sort of recommendation.

Here's a close-up of the recipe:

Britten and Pears - "we like a lot of carrots"

Another one from the home of Sir Colin Davis's kebab recipe, Adrian Ball's 1971 Food of Love: The Favourite Feasts of World's Music-Makers.

The recipes contributed by the long list of musicians vary so much in style and detail that I can only think they were included pretty much as written, with minimal editing.

Claudio Arrau, at the time possibly the greatest living pianist, offers an extravagantly concocted Lobster Bisque. 

At the other end of the scale, a joint contribution from Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears combines the unforgotten proscriptions of rationing with the Englishman's enduring fondness for nursery food. In other words, how English food earned its bad name.

Here is their starter, Miss Hudson's Soup:

"Take the bone of a good English sirloin (or any bones or chicken carcase) a great deal of onions, celery and carrots, varying in emphasis according to preference of taste. (We like a lot of carrots.) Cover with water in a deep pot, and simmer for three hours. Cool, remove fat, strain and season."

They follow with Soles Red House (fried breaded soles) and Dark Treacle Jelly, and accompany with "the Wine Society's Chablis".

Like many of the book's contributors, when asked to suggest music for the meal, they responded "none of course".

All the better to savour those carrots.

Sir Colin Davis shares his kebab

Prom 62: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester / Sir Colin Davis / Nikolaj Znaider - Royal Albert Hall, 1 September 2008

Celebrity cook books tend to be denigrated, even dismissed out of hand, often by people you'd expect to have more inquiring minds. But they can offer unique insights - social, cultural, even psychological. Especially when it comes to musicians, constantly probed about their work, rarely asked about themselves.

The recipe Sir Colin Davis contributed to a 1971 compilation by Adrian Ball, Food of Love: The Favourite Feasts of World's Music-Makers, demonstrates that there's more to rice than throwing the lid on the pan and letting it boil until half of it turns to mush and the other half sticks to the bottom. In the lengthy preparation, the meticulously detailed instructions, the surprise finishing touch, Sir Colin reveals everything he brought to last night's magnificent performance of Sibelius 2, which can be watched here for the next week.

I give you - Sir Colin's kebab:

Chelo Kebab - Rice with Kebab

Kebab  Marinade for 2 hours or more 2 pounds of lamb cut from the leg or 2 pounds of fillet steak (cut into suitable pieces for skewering) in 4 tablespoons of cooking Sherry, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 small onion and 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated.

Skewer the meat and grill fiercely both sides for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt before serving.

Rice 1 pound of rice washed and soaked in generously salted warm water for 2 hours or more. Bring to the boil 3 pints of water. Strain the water from the rice and put soaked rice into boiling water. Bring back to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Strain rice through colander. Put 1 cup of water into an empty saucepan with 6oz of butter and bring to the boil. Return three-quarters of this to the cup.

Place the strained rice carefully into the saucepan. Replace lid and leave it on a low gas for 5 minutes. Pour the liquid in the cup carefully over the rice, wrap lid in a small towel, and press it firmly home. Reduce gas to a minimum and brew for half an hour.

Serve the rice with a raw yolk of egg hidden in the hot rice for each person. A green salad of lettuce, green peppers and cucumber does no harm.

Serve with a light burgundy. And the music to play? Absolutely none according to Sir Colin. And quite right, too.