Feasting with Shakespeare (No ‘Tongue of Dog’ Necessary)
Shakespearances’ Eric Minton does more than write a great blog and newsletter – he creates full-course dinners based on the Bard’s plays, like this “Fowl is Fair” Macbeth menu:
Fowl with Red Pepper Sauce
Lady Macbeth’s Curse
Porter Rhubarb
Witches’ Stew
Eric and his wife Sarah began cooking meals based on Shakespeare’s plays when they were courting. Eric tends to create dishes based on the plays’ imagery while Sarah cooks meals inspired by the plays’ settings and times, many interpreted from recipes she has from ancient Rome and medieval England.
But don’t worry, you won’t have to find fillet of fenny snake, bat’s wool, or tongue of dog to make the witches’ stew; and it is beets and red wine rather than blood that stain Lady Macbeth’s Curse soup. In other words, the recipes may be based on texts hundreds of years old, but they’re made for the modern cook. And Eric’s explanation of the dishes is worth a look even if you’re not a chef. When describing Lady Macbeth’s Curse, he writes, “A specific food image prominent in the play is milk, and Lady Macbeth has a tendency to mingle milk and blood in her language. That vision gives us our starter, a creamy beet soup.”
And though I really wanted to highlight the Macbeth menu, I have to admit that Eric’s “A Wing and a Pear” Cymbeline menu may be more fitting for a holiday feast:
Princes’ Game Hens
Iachimo’s Pasta Salad
Pear of Lovers
Wild Cock-a-Leekie Soup
Like any good cook, Eric tinkers with his recipes until they’re just right. In fact, he’ll be updating his Cymbeline menu (and pairing its course with wine) in the next week or so, after he and Sarah get back from spending Thanksgiving with Eric’s dad. He’ll also post a new Comedy of Errors menu, and best of all, his Shakespearecure menus will soon be compiled into a cookbook! Sign up for his email newsletter to learn when his cookbook will be available and to keep abreast of all Shakespeare-related news.
