In Competition No. 2743 you were invited to submit a recipe as it might have been written by an author of your choice.
Kafka’s Soup, a complete history of world literature in 14 recipes by Mark Crick gave me the idea for this challenge. It contains such gastronomic delights as Cheese on Toast à la Harold Pinter and Fenkata à la Homer and is a masterclass in literary impersonation.
You gave Mr Crick a run for his money. This was another cracking entry and competition was stiff for the top spots. Commendations to unlucky losers Alannah Blake, Frank Osen and W.J. Webster. The winners are printed below and are rewarded with £25 each. Mike Morrison pockets the bonus fiver.
This warming winter fare inexorably mates penury with privilege, bringing together the yin of male coarseness and the yang of feminine finesse. Sacrifice two pounds of succulent primeval beef, raw to the very core of its being; blood, bone and sinew forged by the incandescent throb and heave of intractable nature. Force it to surrender to the caresses and thrusts of cold, relentless Sheffield steel with a blade certain of its purpose, assured in its unforgiving mastery. Sear the flesh in a naked urgent flame. Prepare the mirepoix using only vegetables wrested from the dark, moist, submissive earth by calloused hands long ago made hard and harsh from simple selfless labour. Such a dish will flourish, triumph, yield its all if simmered and roiled in exquisite alternation.
Mike Morrison/D.H. Lawrence’s Boeuf Chatterley
Gather unto thyself the fruits of the forest, kindling and wood, a stone wherewith to pummel grain and sufficient barley as may be required. Prepare for thyself a solid crust in a pot of clay and let this be thy firm foundation.
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