Novel Food #13: The Empress of Ice Cream
July 10, 2011 | Filed Under Books, Chocolate Sauce, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food, Sauces | 15 Comments
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I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, but after reading The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella, you’ll be screaming for ice cream, too. Actually, I’m screaming for ice cream AND my own personal ice cream maker.
The Empress of Ice Cream is a historical fiction about ice cream and two people caught up in the political climate between France and England in the 1600s and the wills of the two kings. Carlo Demirco is a handsome, Italian ice cream maker at a time when the knowledge to make ice cream is rare and only the privileged are able to taste it. Louise de Keroualle, is a beautiful but poor, French lady-in-waiting. As a gift, French King Louis XIV sends talented Carlo to become the personal ice cream maker to Charles II, King of England. He also sends the striking Louise to become Charles’s mistress. The gesture is actually part of a bribe to form alliances between the two kings.
Who knew that the subject of ice cream combined with 17th century French/English politics would be so fascinating? Louise de Keroualle is a real-life historical figure. Carlo is fictional but his presence occurs at the time when ice cream was first introduced in England.
Told from two perspectives, Carlo and Louise’s, The Empress of Ice Cream is a captivating story with a gratifying ending. The characters are all very interesting. Louise is shrewd and a survivor. Carlo is ambitious, always striving to make the best ice cream. I loved the vivid book descriptions, not only of the time period and the activity in the courts, but especially of the ice creams that Carlo makes and the people’s reactions after tasting them, especially for the first time. Here are two of Carlo’s accounts:
"Soon, to the king’s great satisfaction, I was producing ices of a kind that had never been made before — chilled cordials flavoured with orgeat, or milk ices sandwiched between layers of meringue that looked like macaroons, or sorbetti that could be held in the hand within a little lattice goblet made of spun sugar, so that they did not drip on your fine court court clothes as they melted." — page 26
"On another occasion I made him a bowl of cherries which, when examined closely, turned out to be twenty individual cherry cream ices which I had frozen one by one in a mould; while my mandarin sorbets — each one served inside the skin of a recently picked mandarin, the peel apparently unbroken, like a toy ship inside a bottle — were a wonder that the court discussed for days." — page 29
By now, I’m sure you’ve guessed that this is my entry for Novel Food, the culinary/literary blogging event. Today, it’s hosted by Simona of Briciole. I didn’t have time to make ice cream but was able to make something that goes well with ice cream – chocolate sauce. Imagine this warm chocolaty sauce with or without banana and walnuts over your ice cream. Delicious! I think I could have been an apprentice for Carlos and the King would have enjoyed this chocolate sauce. Heck! You’d all enjoy this chocolate sauce.
I will end here with the passage in the book when Carlos first tasted chocolate:
One night I found the whole kitchen smelling dark and pungent, as if livers were being cooked in a sauce of fortified wine; but this smell had a richness to it that was like no offal I had ever known. It was coming from a small saucepan on the range, where something thick and brown spat like hot lava as the cook stirred it with a wooden spoon. ‘Xocalatl,’ the cook said, as he poured the contents of the pan into a small cup for the Grand Duke’s nightcap: then, seeing my incomprehension, he offered me the end of the spoon to taste.
That is another memory I have never forgotten, one of a different kind; a heat that filled my mouth and coated my palate, leaving it full of the same rich taste for hours afterwards; bitter and thick, yet strangely warming, like the very opposite of ice. – page 7
Paz
Wanted:
My own personal Ice Cream Maker.
Must be able to make ice cream at my beck and call.
Being good-looking and Italian (like Carlo) won’t hurt.
Accepting applications here and now.
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Chocolate sauce to be poured over ice cream
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Chocolate sauce with bananas and walnuts
Lee Lee’s Famous Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2-2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup water (more or less, as needed to make a stirable consistency)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt in small saucepan.
Add the water.
Add butter to cocoa mixture.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly.
Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring.
Remove from heat.
Add vanilla.
Serve warm over ice cream.
Add sliced bananas and chopped walnuts if you really want a treat!
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For Novel Food guidelines, click on the banner above. Check out Bricole, for a lineup of other Novel Food entries. You’ll find a wonderful list of books and meals inspired by the stories.
Sausage, Peppers and Onions
May 31, 2010 | Filed Under Italian Sausages, Sauces, Simply Recipes blog | 13 Comments
The other day, I had the best ever sandwich in the world. Why was it so good? That’s because I made it myself. With my own two hands! Yes, I did. 
Made from sausage, peppers and onions, this sandwich was so good that someone (I won’t name the person) who claimed not to be hungry ended up eating TWO of the sandwiches. The same person ate the leftovers the next day. Yes, it was that good. To my surprise, the meal was very easy to make, too.
My overstuffed sandwich consisted of sausage, peppers and onions. I like hot and spicy foods, so I used hot sausages and added extra red pepper flakes. Fresh basil is not mentioned in the ingredients portion but I used it in addition to the dried oregano. Even more delicious. Only one person didn’t care for the sandwich because the meal was too spicy for them. No matter; that meant more for me and the other greedy eaters there. All in all, we were happy with our sausage, peppers and onions sandwich. Next time, I’ll try the sauce with penna pasta or polenta, as Elise of Simply Recipes suggest. Thanks, Elise!
Paz
Sausage, Peppers, and Onions
You can use different colored bell peppers, or just stick with green. This recipe uses a combination of sweet and hot sausages, but if you want a milder dish, use only the sweet sausages and reduce the amount of chili pepper flakes in the recipe. (Likewise if you want it hotter, use hot sausages and/or bump up the amount of chili pepper flakes.)
Ingredients
* 4 Italian sausage links (sweet, hot, or a couple of each)
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 green bell pepper, sliced into 2 to 3 inch long strips
* 1 red bell pepper, sliced into 2 to 3 inch long strips
* 1 bell pepper of another color (yellow or orange or purple), sliced into strips 2-3 inches long
* 4 garlic cloves, sliced into slivers
* 1 large sweet or yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch half-moons
* 1 small (15 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
* 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
* 1/2 cup Marsala or red wine (optional)
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
* Salt to taste
Method
1 Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pan that has a lid. When the oil is hot, add the sausages and brown them slowly. If they sizzle and crackle too much, turn the heat down. You want a gentle browning, not a sear. Cook for several minutes, turning them occasionally so they brown on all sides. When the sausages are browned, remove from the pan and set aside.
2 Increase the heat to high and add the onions and peppers. Toss so they get coated with the oil in the pan and sear them as well as you can, stirring every so often. You want some blackening. Once the onions and peppers soften, sprinkle some salt on them. Once you get some searing on the onions and peppers, add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
3 Add the Marsala or red wine if you are using, and with a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the browned and blackened bits. Let the wine cook down by half.
4 Add the tomatoes, oregano and red pepper flakes (if using) and stir well to combine. Add the sausages back in. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the peppers are soft the sausages are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
Sausage, peppers and onions will keep in the fridge for several days.
Serve over polenta, or with penne pasta, or load up in a hoagie roll. Any leftover sauce makes a great sauce for pasta.
Serves 4.
