Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1928) of pop culture icon Andy Warhol, and if you think at all about Warhol and food your mind probably turns immediately to Campbell’s soup cans – justifiably so.  However, he did also collaborate with socialite Suzie Frankfurt in 1959 on a spoof cookbook called Wild Raspberries – itself a spoof title mocking the 1957 Swedish movie Wild Strawberries. The book was a limited edition with handwritten – deliberately misspelt – text and childish art.  The following recipes are verbatim from the book.  A + P was a supermarket chain that was at the height of its commercial success in the 1950s, and, as to be expected, Warhol hated mass consumption (including Sears).  Back in the 1950s supermarkets were a novelty.  The humor has not worn well I am afraid, and the A+P Surprise recipe looks decent as a kind of trifle. 

Seared Roebuck
Take a saddle of roebuck, roast it and then swirl it in the poasting [sic] pan with two juniper berries. Remove from the roasting pan and sear it over an open fire adding Poivrade sauce every thirty seconds. Serve with at stewed Macintoshes. Ed. Note: unlike many other species of game moebuck [sic] must be eaten fresh. It is important to note that roebuck shot in ambush is infinitely better than roebuck killed after a chase. Keep this in mind on your next hunting trip.

A + P Surprise
Buy a 2 day old sponge cake at the A + P and cut in three ¾ inch layers. Soak for exactly 36 hours in ½ cup rum, 2 ½ tablespoons confectioners sugar and ½ cup water, spread on each layer sieved apricot jam and pastry cream, top with poached apricot ralves [sic] and cherries. Glaze with jelly and let set. Dust with confectioners sugar and pistachio mits [sic] and decorate with whipped cream piped around the edges.