Not that I don't love Thanksgiving. I do. I love the food, the family, the day off. And this year was no exception. My parents made a delicious and delightful dinner.
But the recipes! Everywhere recipes! New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, Food & Wine, Cook's Illustrated (how many turkey recipes do they have?). I was up to my ears in Thanksgiving recipes. Which is why I was so happy to find Les dîners de Gala, otherwise known as The Salvador Dali Cookbook, and a wonderful respite from the T-Day madness.
With chapters such as Les cannibalismes de l'automne and Les entre-plats sodomisés, one knows right away this ain't Paula Deen. I wish I could scan every image in the book for your viewing pleasure. The book is a combination of Dali's surrealist works with photographs that look like they could come out of a 1959 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. And the recipes? Well they're not exactly traditional holiday fare, but they'll do till Christmas.
Avocado Toast
(adapted from Salvador Dali's Les dîners de Gala)
3 avocado pears
1 lamb brains
9 oz. minced almonds
12 slices of rye bread
3 T. of tequila
First you have to prepare the brains.
After soaking them in cold water, remove the outer skin that cover them. Put them back in water; there must be no blood in it. At the same time, boil a pint of water in which you place 1/3 cup of vinegar and half of a beef bouillon cube. When the mixture reaches the boiling point, add the brains and poach them for about 25 minutes.
Take the brains out of the water, drain and crush with a fork, mixing with the pulp of avocado pears. Add the minced almonds, salt, Cayenne pepper (don't be shy about it) and if possible 3 T. of tequila. Toast the slices of rye bread in the oven, and spread the mixture over them.
4 comments:
That is a great book! Some of the pictures are pretty wild...
Hey y'all! Haven't seen this one - will need to request it up to 58th Street. Have you looked at The Futurist Cookbook? They have some wild recipes too, plus party themes that would make any party a memorable one. Good thymes!
I was all about this recipe till I got to the brain part! I could use more brains, just not in my diet!
This reminds me of two cookbooks I have: 1. The Czechoslovak Cookbook has several recipes for preparing brain and quite a few for preparing faux-brain. Apparently the Czechs feel cauliflower is a good stand in. 2. Maxime de le Falaise edited a wonderful book in 1980 called Food In Vogue that has some quite funny (and delicious sounding) recipes from Andy Warhol.
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