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Leaves from a Narnian Cookbook Coming Through
the Wardrobe |
The Sweets Section begins with what is probably the most famous or infamous of all Narnian foods; the notorious Turkish Delight. When Edmond meets the White Witch on his first trip through the Wardrobe she asks him what he likes best to eat and he replies, “Turkish delight, please, your Majesty.” “The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmond and never tasted anything more delicious.” Up until just a few years ago Turkish Delight was not to be found in the United States, at least not in the parts of the United States I frequent. I was an adult before I saw it for the first time in a store. My daughter’s and I were so excited we nearly dropped it as we bought it and hurried outside to taste it. I had waited a life time to find out what this most magical of sweets really tasted like! It was pretty; rosy and translucent, covered with a powdery glaze. We each took a piece, gazed at it for a moment and then and tasted it! Well. We decided that the store made Turkish Delight was just wrong and we would have to make it ourselves for it to be right. We started looking for a recipe. We found one and went to work. The first recipe we had was quite difficult to make, but we persevered and when we were done and had rolled the jelly like substance in powdered sugared, we tasted it and . . . Well. We decided it was a bad recipe. We tried another. We tried another. Finally we decided that since “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” takes place in England during the War, maybe Edmond had never tasted any other kind of candy! The truth is, sad as it may seem, to our American tastes, Turkish Delight just, well, I am sorry folks, but it tastes like rubber perfume rolled in powdered sugar. There is no way around it, it isn’t our idea of the most delicious thing on earth. It does have some intriguing myths associated with it, even before Professor Lewis made it infamous forever. An old Turkish proverb advises “eat sweetly and speak sweetly.” A fanciful tale tells of the creation of Turkish Delight: In an attempt to soften and sweeten his many wives, a famous sultan ordered his confectioner to create a unique sweet. Eager to please his sultan, the confectioner blended a concoction of sugar syrup, various flavourings, nuts and dried fruits lightly flavored them with rosewater then bound them together with mastic (gum arabic). After many attempts, the delicately scented and sugary sweet lokum - better known in the west as Turkish Delight - was created. The sultan was so taken by this elegant new creation that he appointed the sweet maker the court’s chief confectioner. Thereafter, a plate of lokum was served at daily feasts in the Ottoman court. Lokum was unveiled to the west in the Nineteenth century. During his travels to Istanbul, an unknown British traveler became very fond of the Turkish delicacies, purchased cases of lokum and he shipped them to Britain under the name Turkish Delight. After many trials, this is the recipe that we find to be the best and still maintain the true feeling and flavor of Turkish Delight. We tried some that were definitely something else, but those really won’t do because even if we don’t like it, it is Edmond’s favorite thing in the world. At least it used to be before he ate those several pounds of magical stuff. It’s hard to say how he feels about it now, because, as he would be the first to tell you, “there’s nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food.”
Line base and sides of a deep 17 cm (6 3/4 inch) square cake tin with aluminum foil, leaving edges overhanging. Brush foil with oil or melted butter. Remove white pith from rinds. Combine rinds, juices, sugar and water in large heavy-based pan. Stir over medium heat without boiling until sugar has completely dissolved. Brush sugar crystals from side of pan with a wet pastry brush. Bring to boil, reduce heat slightly and boil without stirring for 5 minutes or boil until a teaspoon of mixture dropped into cold water forms long threads, or if using a sugar thermometer it must reach 105 C (221 F). Combine gelatine with 1/2 cup (4 fl oz) extra water in bowl. Stir over hot water until dissolved. In separate bowl combine cornflour with remaining water, mix until smooth. Add gelatine and cornflour mixtures to sugar syrup. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils and clears. Stir in flower water and a few drops red food colouring. Strain mixture into tin; refrigerate over night. When set peel off foil and cut into squares. Roll in icing sugar.
An intriguing Narnian sweet that Professor Lewis tells us about appears at the magical feast that is danced up by the feet of Bacchus, Silenus and the Maenads in Prince Caspian. I have always been fascinated by the “Many Colored Sugars.” We found two ways to make Many Colored Sugars, and they are indeed beautiful and make your morning cup of tea a lot more fun. Many Colored Sugar “Sand Painting” in a Jar Put about a cup of sugar into a jar with a good tight lid. Add one or two drops of food color. Be careful to only add one or two drops, if you add too much the sugar will get moist and it won’t work. Shake the jar (for a long time!) To mix the sugar and the food coloring, until you have a cup of a certain colored sugar. Repeat until you have several colors. In a decorative bottle begin pouring in a little bit of one color at a time, “painting” with the sand as you go. A tiny funnel helps with this process and keeps the sugar from getting all over. When you are done you have a beautiful jar of “sand painted” sugar that you can just look at, use in your coffee or save for a feast the next time Bacchus, Silenus and the Maenads come to call.
You will need the following materials:
Directions: * First, tie one end of the string to the
popsicle stick .
In The Horse and His Boy, when Aravis is trying desperately to get out of Tashbaan, her silly friend makes her take a long luxurious bath (Calormene baths are famous) and then serves her a meal which as “chiefly of the whipped cream and jelly and fruit and ice sort.” This is, of course, the food most preferred by princesses, who like anything sweet covered in lots and lots of whipped cream. Narnians are very fond of these delicious fruity, icy sweets and they come drifting by quite often. While Shasta was with the Narnian’s in Tashbaan, and they thought he was Corin, he dined on gooseberry fools and mulberry fools and “every kind of nice thing that can be made with ice.” In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the Magician, trying to make a special meal for Lucy that would be more like what she was used to at home in England, offers her both Strawberry Ice and a Lemon-Squash to drink. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a “Fool” is a dessert made of stewed or puréed fruit mixed with cream or custard and served cold. The term “Gooseberry Fool” has it’s own folk lore. To play gooseberry is to go with two lovers for appearance' sake. The person "who plays propriety" is expected to hear, see, and say nothing. A Gooseberry Picker is one who has all the toil and trouble of picking a troublesome fruit for the enjoyment of someone else! Traditional Gooseberry Fool is a compound made of scalded gooseberries which are pounded with cream. Once again, I found this recipe difficult and the flavor strange to American taste buds. Gooseberries are quite sour and, well, green tasting! I always wonder if they were once included in so many desert recipes for lack of other kinds of fruit. I include here a traditional “Gooseberry Fool” recipe and another, a Raspberry Fool which has a taste that you may find you like better than the original. Or maybe not! You may just be a real, traditional fool for Gooseberries!
Ingredients Method
This recipe requires a little advance planning — the yogurt will need to drain for at least 8 hours. 1 1/2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt In a fine sieve set over a bowl drain yogurt,
chilled, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Discard liquid and transfer
yogurt to bowl. In a small saucepan toss together raspberries and sugar
and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until juicy, 2 to
3 minutes. Force mixture through cleaned fine sieve into a bowl, pressing
on solids. Chill raspberry purée until cold, at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day. In a chilled small bowl beat cream until it just holds stiff peaks and gently fold in yogurt. Fold in raspberry purée to create a marbled effect. Spoon fool into 4 stemmed glasses. Chill desserts, covered, 1 hour. It looks fabulous in a martini or champagne glass and you can sugar the rim for extra effect.
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weets
urkish
elight 
any
Colored Sugars 
rystals
hipped
Cream
ools
ooseberry Fool
aspberry
Fool