Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1925) of Edward St. John Gorey, writer and artist noted for his illustrated books. His characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings. I was a fan for a while after a friend bought me Amphigorey as a birthday present in 1979. His combination of skillfully morbid rhyming stories and amusingly disturbing dark images is quite obviously unique.

Gorey was very fond of eating but always ate out. On Cape Cod he frequented a local restaurant twice a day and as a tribute to him the restaurant mounted some of his food orders and presented the collage to him, which now hangs in the Gorey Museum in his old home.  In his honor I recommend cooking something Victorian, odd, and vaguely disturbing.  This recipe from Mrs Beeton fits that description for me. I am not sure whether her idea that the recipe is useful when baking is more convenient than boiling is laughable or disquieting. It’s certainly Victorian.

BAKED SOUP.

INGREDIENTS.—1 lb. of any kind of meat, any trimmings or odd pieces; 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 oz. of rice, 1 pint of split peas, pepper and salt to taste, 4 quarts of water.

Mode.—Cut the meat and vegetables in slices, add to them the rice and peas, season with pepper and salt. Put the whole in a jar, fill up with the water, cover very closely, and bake for 4 hours.

Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 2-1/2d. per quart.

Seasonable at any time.

Sufficient for 10 or 12 persons.

Note.—This will be found a very cheap and wholesome soup, and will be convenient in those cases where baking is more easily performed than boiling.