A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry: An Irish Literary Cookbook

by Veronica Jane O'Mara, Fionnauala O'Reilly

With this book the reader can cook and eat in the company of literary giants and find out what Nora Joyce cooked for Samuel Beckett. Take twelve Irish literary masters, among them James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Sean O'Casey, Elizabeth Bowen, and Mary Lavin, and note from pastiches of their works how food, all aspects of it, appears in their pages. With insight, humor, and more than a little ingenuity then create recipes for the dishes, situating them as Veronica Jane O'Mara and Fionnuala O'Reilly have—with tasty allusions to the works—and you partake of a feast. From a sampling of Finnegan's Wake, we learn of "careful teacakes," the recipe for yeasty rounds further instructing us not to drop butter on our shirts and not to eat too many! We make white scones and brown scones as well, as Sean O'Casey would have liked them, and from Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September comes the inspiration and recipe for Sink-the-Bismarck Chocolate Cake, a black-out combination to end all chocolate cakes. There are recipes for porridge and tarts and kedgeree and a fool, and so much more.

Genres: Cookbooks

191 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well worth reading, but a bit puzzling, A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry: An Irish Literary Cookbook presents thirteen Irish authors' brief biographies and words on food plus recipes for some of that food. Just try to find a date of birth for either Veronica Jane O'Mara or Fionnuala O'Reilly. The first copyright for this book is 1933, but I read the 1996 edition. The '96 updates make it easy to use the recipes in an American kitchen, but that 63 year gap led me down several rabbit holes. O'Mara of IMDB? O'Reilly of the Irish Miss Universe pageant? Publishing houses merged or closed?

Nine of the 13 authors were born in the 19th Century. Anglo Irish writers also dominate the pages. If you've read Angela's Ashes or A Monk Swimming, you know how lyrically Frank or Malachy McCourt described a well-cooked potato or a well-poured drink. They, alas, were born too late (1930s!) to be included. Yes, there is something odd about this collection. It's still worth a read.