Bookclub dinner ideas for The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
The Correspondent has been a wildly popular book, and it seems like everyone in my circles is in the midst of it, from running crew to work colleagues. My book club rotates homes, a light supper, and many bottles of wine, and this round came to me. As a culinary nerd, I wanted to mull over an interesting menu.
Yes, yes… she lived in Maryland in eyeshot to the shore and crab cakes were humorously mentioned at one point. But away from the coasts, fresh crab is hard to come by, and it’s always expensive. While I might be able to get by with canned, I wanted a different take.
I don’t give away too much to say that Scotland plays a big role late in the book. While she never writes about it, I wondered, what would Sybil Van Antwerp have eaten when she was there? What’s “classic” fare from Scotland, or at least dishes inspired by Scottish ingredients? Building this menu gave me the chance to explore more of Scotland’s not-so-famous yet classic dishes. And while I’ll still wait for a visit to try haggis, this menu was a great success.
A Scottish book club menu for The Correspondent
| Dish | Notes |
|---|---|
| Sourdough toasts: whole wheat and rye with flax and sunflower seeds | I take huge inspiration in my sourdough baking from Tartine Book 3. A bit of rye would serve well here, too. |
| Butter-seared leeks with whiskey cream reduction | I’ve seen many recipes for this with leeks cut in rounds, but I had the tender inner lengths from the soup, below, to work with. Hard seared with butter so they darken in spots, deglazed with whiskey (careful of fire!) and finished with cream, they were perfect atop the bread. |
| Scotch pies | Typically made with hot-water crusts. I’m not a regular savory pie cook and don’t have a dozen pie rings sitting around to form them: I made mini-pies and baked them in a muffin tin instead. |
| Mushroom gravy | Steaming mushrooms in a few tablespoons of water makes it much easier to sear them later, with much less oil absorbed. Flour roux thickened beef stock for a perfect sauce to the pies or the toasts. |
| Rumbledethumps | The Scottish response to Irish Colcannon, all variations of mash with cabbage. I loved a 50/50 mix of potato to rutabaga — the closest American equivalent to Scottish swede — both boiled in heavily salted water, the rutabaga then finely chopped and added to the riced boiled potatoes. Seared Napa cabbage rounded out this surprisingly light take on mashed potatoes, topped with 2-year white cheddar and baked off in the oven. |
| Cock-a-Leekie Soup (Chicken soup with leeks) | I think the Scots are trolling the English with some of their food names. This is chicken soup, made up slowly from a whole chicken to build the broth, that includes barley and — surprise ingredient! — prunes. I roughly followed this recipe from Ruhlman, which took great care to pull the meats early, shred them, and add them back late, so that each ingredient shines. |
| Sticky Toffee Pudding | Days after, a work colleague suggested this as the perfect dessert. I didn’t make it, sadly, but “next time” I’d consider this or alternatively, Cranachan. |