Back in March, the Sound of the Baskervilles - the Puget Sound's very active Sherlockian scion - held their annual tea and auction. I donated a dinner for 4 people. But it took until July for us to coordinate our schedules, so I could pay up!
In spite of having four months to plan, I was changing things up until the last minute. To plan the menu, I turned to two Sherlockian cookbooks for inspiration, The Sherlock Holmes Cookbook and Dining with Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, I didn't really find anything there that I wanted to use. So, I went directly to the source, the Canon. I tried to find any references to food that I could, and went from there. Okay, I ended up using a lot of artistic license, but I'm happy with the results. And yes, in a nod to Dr. Watson, liberal amounts of brandy were applied! I'll go into more details with each course later.
Here's the menu:
Pate de Fois Gras Pie (mentioned in The Noble Bachelor)
Prolific Smoked Oyster Stew (from the Dying Detective)
Circumstantial Trout (again from The Noble Bachelor)
Woodcock Incognito with Cumberland Sauce (mentioned in several stories, quote is from The Blue Carbuncle)
Lovely Rose Water and Rhubarb Sorbet (Holmes waxes philosophical over a rose in The Naval Treaty, one of my favorite quotes in the Canon)
Beef Wellington with Gorgonzola (a play on a meal he eats in The Beryl Coronet)
Agra Treasure Salad (from the novel The Sign of Four)
Six Napoleons with Black Pearl Truffles (The Six Napoleons, of course!)
Here's a picture of the completed menu, complete with quotes from the Canon to help explain my justifications!
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| The cover. The quote is from The Five Orange Pips. |
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| The full menu with quotes from the Canon, referenced above. |
Tomorrow, the setting.
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