Souling Cakes

 Today is All Soul's Day , a time in the Christian calendar where people honor their relatives and ancestors long past. Ir was a common practice in Britain and Ireland to beg for little cakes and pies for a song or prayer for your gone loved ones. The tradition turned into Halloween but soul cakes remain the same. The recipes haven't changed in centuries.

Everyone may remember Sting's "Soul Cakes"  from his 2009 album "If On A Winter's Night". It was his version of a Peter , Paul and Mary song from 1965 which was based on the traditional British version. .Most "soulers" were poor and hungry. The wealthier townspeople gave them whatever fruit was lying around, apples pears, and  cherries,  However some were lucky enough to receive a small cake cookie or a tart filled with dried fruit. soul cakes then and now.Sheffield and Cheshire in England's northwest and central north respectively still carry on this tradition.It is also popular in Portugal where it's called Pao por deus and The Phillipines  where locals celebrate it as Panangaluwa. The soul cakes are blessed by a local priest and leftovers are either given to the poor or distributed amongst the families.  Here children promise to pray for the souls of the giver's dead relatives. Every cake eaten also freed the souls trapped in purgatory.This is done in Catholic and  even Lutheran parishes. The souling isn't limited to just today.It stretches out through the entire month of November.

There are four very good soul cake recipes if you're interested in souling (or you can distribute them at your local soup kitchen or food pantry) One of the easier is a shortbread style recipe. It's just one stick of softened butter mixed with four tablespoons of sugar and a cup and a half of flour.They're baked in rounds and decorated with fork marks, usually in a cross shape. Another soul cake recipe is a bit more substantial and somewhat zingy thanks to the addition of malt vinegar. Again this is buttery recipe, using two sticks of softened butter along with three and a half cups of flour .Nutmeg , saffron, cinnamon and and all spice spice it in a kind of medieval fashion. Two eggs bind it together . It's rolled out and then cut out with a glass. Powdered sugar is dusted on them while they're still warm.There are also Irish soul cakes which are more like small breads. These have yeast which produces a nice rise. Lemon zest and golden raisins give them color and flavor. For a heartier version make then with already made pie crusts, cut in circles and placed in muffin tins then fill with a mix of one cup of dried fruit,  two tablespoons of melted butter and two tablespoons of honey. These are just baked for fifteen minutes. You can get creative with these and use dried apricots, currents, cherries, raisins and Craisins - dried cranberries for the fillings.

This entire month can be dedicated to souling. Reward those with  these soul cakes, with their special flavors and symbolism, Remember those who have gone and celebrate their lives with these cakes and tarts.

A Gastronomic Love Story

Imagine the man of your dreams as being witty  and sophisticated , a great cook and gastronome.Imagine him taking you on tours as the exotic souks of Morocco and the best Michelin restaurants in Europe. Susan Washburn Buckley didn't have to imagine. The man of her dreams was the very real bon vivant Peter Buckley  - a larger than life figure who had an eye for adventure and great food. Their marriage is now the subject of Ms.Washburn-Buckley's new book and it is a wonderful, flavorful romp,

Eating With Peter  (Arcade Press 2018) is a tasty valentine to Peter Buckley, who started out as a photographer  as well as a writer He grew up in France with his soignee mother Elinor Hays Buckley, known in her own right as a socialite.,There Peter picked up his undying love for all things French , especially the food and wine. Along the way he caught the eye of Susan Washburn, who worked at her publishing company, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. They eventually married and their union led to some amazing gastronomic adventures. To be honest, I usually don't like the new hybrid of memoir/cookbook. The stories leading up to a promised dish can be tedious, but not with this book, I absolutely loved it!!!!.I couldn;t wait to see what the next exciting chapter held . Ms. Washburn   is famous for writing Young Adult books on American history She should definitely write more for adults. Her chapters are so well crafted that I felt like I was standing in the warm waters of the Caribbean with them as they dived for fresh sea urchins to eat or breathing in the exotic spices of a Fez market. I also loved how Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary, especially the last, weave in and out of the chapters. Peter and Hemingway were friends, sharing a love of bull fighting. Ms. Washburn's style can only be described as sparkling - as sparkling as the champagne she and her husband  sipped.It is never boring , always fresh with a crisp wryness to it.

Each chapter has a recipe or a few at the end of it. Even the one featuring transporting their Bernese mountain dog, Nora to France  has a toothsome recipe for dog biscuits. The recipes excited me,I definitely want to try the gazpacho recipe  this summer. (I would love to try it now but somehow it's not the dish to have in chilly late winter). Many of the French recipes come from French  and Northern Italian chefs. Thanks to the Buckleys and their recipe for the heavenly sounding Gratin Dauphinois a l Ermitarge, a scalloped potato recipe taken from the kitchen of the famed Maurice Tuccinardi.The well known Troigrois, brothers Jean and Pierre, make an appearance as does their recipe for viand glace. It is a leaf taken from their actual cookbook so the recipe is  entirely in Frenc.h  Mary Hemingway's recipe is here also for her seviche, a delightful union of lime juice , onions and red peppers used to "cook" seafood. Peter Buckley was also a writer too  and he wrote a cookbook just on raw food, thirty years before it became de rigueur. His recipe for couscous salad is a refreshing mix of couscous cooked with lemon juice and spiked with  cherry tomatoes , chopped peppers and almonds. Both Buckleys were consummate New Yorkers and there is a chapter on the city's Union Square market as well as on the European ones . Any home chef can recreate Peter's transcendental beans recipe.There is only one dessert dish and that is Ms. Buckley's blueberry one made with a buttery French influenced crust.

Eating With Peter is a delicious romp through the world of food and adventure. Susan Washburn brings  us into that world with her amazing descriptive chapters and recipes. it is the ultimate foodie book.