Intermezzo

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.