Recipes to celebrate the papal visit ROSE PRINCE
Feast fit for a Pope W
Benedict XVI’s coat of arms features the bear of St Corbinian, a scallop shell and the Moor of Freising, the last two providing inspiration for a pair of special dishes to mark the papal visit to Britain
hen I was first asked to create a menu that would honour the papal visit, I was immediately inspired by Pope Benedict’s
coat of arms, designed by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo. Each pope comes with his own clutch of motifs and Pope Benedict is no exception. Most prominent is the scallop shell, a sym- bol with many meanings, being the vessel once often used in baptism, the emblem of stories related both to St Augustine, whose
Reserve the scallop shells, and spoon this warm, buttery, aromatic seafood dish over them at the table. Make a ceremony of it.
Scallops with crabmeat and potatoes, in saffron butter sauce
(Serves 4) 200g unsalted butter 12 strands Spanish “la Mancha” saffron 20 medium-sized new potatoes, peeled (scraped if very “new”) 4 shallots, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, finely chopped ¼ tsp ground mace ½ tsp ground coriander 1 whole large brown crab or 4 tbsp white crabmeat and 1 heaped tbsp brown crabmeat
Juice of half a lemon Salt and fresh ground white pepper 8-12 large scallops, white meat only
Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and add the saffron. Allow the butter to boil gently for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Leave in a warm place to “steep”, then melt once more and strain. This can be done a day or so in advance. Thirty minutes before serving, boil the potatoes until just tender – but not falling apart. Keep warm. To prepare the fish, melt two tablespoons of the saffron butter in a pan and add the shallots. Cook for a few minutes until transparent and soft, then add the garlic and spices, with the brown crabmeat and the lemon juice. Season to taste with the salt and white pepper.
Slice the potatoes into pieces 1cm thick, and add to the saffron and crab mixture. Stir well to coat, then tip into a large warmed bowl. Melt another two tablespoons of
22 | THE TABLET | 18 September 2010
works are central to Benedict’s intellectual life, and to St James, whose lifetime of pil- grimage has also inspired the Pope. On the east coast of England, references to St James and his scallop shell are found in much church masonry, such as the string of shells in the base course of the massive tower of the Norfolk church of St James, Southrepps, on the hills south-east of Cromer. As well as scallops, I chose other ingredients from this region to make the main dish – crab, potatoes and saffron (the spice from the crocus
plant once grown in East Anglia). The colours of this dish are papal yellow and white. Pope Benedict’s own roots are represented in a spicy cake reminiscent of those sold in Bavarian Christmas markets and redolent of the supposed Orient of the Moor of Freising. Uncertainty surrounds the origins of the Moor, but for nearly 700 years he has appeared on the heraldry of the ancient Bavarian city, now twinned with Munich in the archdiocese whose head was once Joseph Ratzinger. This cake is for Pope Benedict.
This cake takes minutes to prepare and there’s no tiresome creaming of butter and sugar. It is best made a day ahead.
The Moor’s cake
120g butter 120g dark brown muscovado sugar 120g black treacle 2 tbsp water 2 tsp ground ginger 2 eggs, beaten 120g plain flour ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 120g ground almonds 4 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted then chopped finely
the butter and set aside, keeping warm. Heat a grill pan until it begins to smoke, then grill the scallops for 1-2 minutes either side until they begin to firm up. Transfer the scallops to the bowl with the other ingredients, scatter over the white crab, then pour over a little more melted butter. Serve immediately, putting a scallop shell on each plate and spooning the scallops, crab and potatoes over the top. Eat with hunks of bread and a green vegetable (peas, broad beans, spinach or fine beans).
Grease an eight-inch round cake tin with oil, then dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 150˚C/300˚F/Gas 2. Put the butter, sugar and black treacle into a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Boil gently for three minutes until it resembles toffee sauce. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes. Beat in the eggs, then fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and ground almonds. Pour batter into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour. While the cake is in the oven, cut a cross
keys stencil from an eight-inch circle of baking paper. You can make this as detailed as you like, but a simple cross will do. Twenty minutes before the end of baking, remove the cake from the oven and place the paper circle on top. Scatter over the chopped almonds, then lift away the paper. The cake will sink a bit but this adds to its charm. Put the cake back in the oven and complete the cooking. Remove, cool and eat with a creamy white cheese, or on its own.
ILLUSTRATION: ALISON LANG
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48