Who knows how many times while reading Hemingway's works you will have read about wine, cocktails and great meals, also because the American writer himself was the first to appreciate good food and "holy drinks" in company.
Even today this passion for food and wine, although contextualized in a different era from ours, emerges in the stature of his character which, almost 70 years after his death, is still very present.
Don't believe it?
Try to google the word Hemingway by combining it with bars, restaurants, pubs, inns and you will be amazed at how, even in places never frequented by the American novelist, you can find places that bear his name on the sign.
Without forgetting that even in the places he loved such as Paris, Madrid, Venice, Havana, Pamplona, there are still places where he ate and drank that bear plaques, memories knowing that the public loves these historical memories linked to Ernest Hemingway .
This is why I am pleased to present to you a book, also translated into Italian and published a few years ago by Ultra editions: At the table with Hemingway.
The book was first published in 1998 with the title Hemingway Cookbook and was written by the American writer and journalist Craigh Boreth, who among other things also has an entrepreneurial activity linked to the high quality food sector.
The love for food and wine emerges in this book which makes you retrace the great novels and his most famous stories through the recipes and narration of his most loved dishes.
A trip around the world that will even allow you to create, if you wish, a Hemingway-style dinner for your literary club friends with his favorite dishes and perhaps some readings of his songs.
The book captures unexpected aspects of Ernest Hemingway's life, moving from the most popular and beloved moment of conviviality that man can have, that is, sharing a lunch or dinner.
So thanks to the availability of Craigh Boreth, I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing him to let you know the secrets of Hemingway's cuisine.
A trip around the world but certainly also reading a book that whets your taste buds and your appetite.
1) Good morning Craigh, how did the idea of writing this particular and interesting book come about?
After college, I traveled to France and Spain, following the itinerary of The Sun Also Rises (which we in Italy know as Fiesta).
It struck me that many of the destinations I visited were bars or restaurants. So, I went back and reread all of Hemingway's books and stories, and I noticed that food and drink appeared everywhere. I realized that looking at Hemingway and his writing through a culinary lens could be both insightful and entertaining.
2) The book retraces Hemingway's life and most characteristic episodes and combines some recipes that are influenced by the places frequented by the American writer. What type of research did you do to find out about the recipes you selected for the book?
Fortunately for me, I spent a lot of time traveling, eating and drinking the same things Hemingway – or his characters – ate and drank. Because Hemingway often used food and drink in a very specific way – to show characters' familiarity with local cuisines, or awareness of what was seasonal or appropriate given their situation – some recipes stood out as obviously essential to a biography culinary. I also talked to people who knew him – Forrest MacMullen in Idaho was particularly helpful – to find dishes he was particularly fond of.
Finally, there were dishes that were simply fun, likeFilet of Lion, and seemed perfect for capturing Hemingway's sense of humor and joie de vivre.
3) We Italians have a great tradition and passion for cooking, so this book can fascinate us. After doing this study, do you think Hemingway particularly loved Italian cuisine?
This is actually a really interesting question. There is no doubt that he felt a strong connection to Italy, from his fateful tour as an ambulance driver during the First World War to his legendary visits to Venice as an older celebrity. And I'm sure the unpretentious elegance of Italian cuisine appealed to his sense of the world. But there isn't much traditional Italian cuisine in his writings (at least compared to French or Spanish cuisine). When you read the Italy chapter of my book, you'll find that most of the foods the characters eat are actually French. I think that as a young writer Hemingway never had his feet on the ground enough to truly absorb the richness and variety of Italian cuisine, as he did with French cuisine.
4) In addition to Italian cuisine, Hemingway lived in France, Spain, Cuba and traveled around the world. Which country, apart from Italy, do you think he loved most from a gastronomic point of view?< /strong>
It could be argued that Hemingway lived several lives, and in each of them a particular cuisine was the most beloved. It is impossible to think of the young Hemingway in Paris without imagining him at the Brasserie Lipp eating sausages with mustard sauce or washing down oysters at Prunier with a glass of chilled Sancerre. Or, when you are in Spain, at Casa Botinin Madrid to eat roast suckling pig, or at La Pepica in Valencia for paella. Then there was Cuba, with countless daiquiris at El Floriditaand every variety of freshly caught fish on the grill.
El Floridita Havana - Cuba
But, to answer your question, I have to say that French cuisine was his first gastronomic love, and it remained with him throughout his life, influencing his tastes and those of his characters more than any other.< /p>
5) Very particular and different recipes emerge from your book. What do you think were his favorite dishes?
Hemingway didn't cook much himself. He never really developed culinary skills beyond the fire cooking he learned as a boy in the American Midwest.
And while he certainly knew how to source a wide range of great dishes, that sensitivity to fire always remained. That's why I would say his favorite dish was paella. Although prepared with lobster on the beach in Valencia, paella at its heart is a peasant dish, meant to be shared by all straight from the pan. It's local, it's soulful, it's festive. Perhaps the perfect Hemingway dish.
Paella Valenciana perhaps his perfect recipe according to Craig.
6) The section dedicated to wines and bars is also very interesting. Did you love cocktails, liqueurs or wine more?
YES! 😉 Hemingway has a well-deserved reputation as a heavy drinker, but he was also a hard worker. He devoted countless hours to perfecting his craft and when he finished writing he would engage in some heavy drinking. Alcohol undoubtedly took a toll on his physical and mental health over the years, but I think it can be argued that those were the costs he paid to create some of the most important prose of the 20th century. I'd say he was very fond of whatever well-made cocktail or perfectly paired wine he had in hand at the time.
7) Which wines and cocktails did you love the most?
Hemingway knew his wines. He knew which wine paired best with which food and which good wine to order when someone else was paying the bill. He said inDeath in the Afternoonthat he prefers Spanish wine to all others, and I take him at his word on that. Speaking of cocktails, no drink could top his famous Hemingway Daiquiri – also known as Papa Doble – at El Floridita in Havana.
Legend is that he once drank 16 in a single day. In contrast, I think Hemingway was especially fond of drinks that could warm you up on a cold night. There is the Gluhwein - hot, spiced wine - that Frederick and Catherine enjoy in A Farewell to Arms, or the warm Rum Punch< /em> that Jake drinks in the cold Spanish Pyrenees in The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta).
😎 Do you want to tell us about a curiosity that emerged during the writing of this book?
When researching the book I spent a lot of time in the Hemingway archives at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.
It was absolutely fascinating to look through the thousands of photographs stored there. I felt a little like I was spying on someone's family photos, which in some ways is exactly what I was doing.
9) Speaking of Hemingway, which are his works that you love most?
In Our Time, published nearly 100 years ago, when Hemingway was just 26, is a mind-blowing work of art. Revolutionary in style and subject, it changed everything. The storyIndian Campremains one of my favorite tales of all time and still feels very modern today.
While I love all of his major novels, I think The Garden of Eden was his bravest. Having accomplished so much as a writer, he never stopped trying to go further and create something new. It hasn't always worked out, but for someone with so much to lose to take risks with his reputation like he did in that novel is truly remarkable.
Craig Boreth at the helm
10) Do you have any new future editorial projects you want to tell us about or any projects related to Hemingway?
I have always dreamed of writing a play, with three imaginary meetings between Hemingway and Pablo Neruda. While I don't think they ever met, they were both in Paris in the 1920s, Spain in the 1930s, and Chile in the 1950s (Hemingway was there filming the fishing sequences for the film version of The old man and the sea).
I think Hemingway always dreamed of being a poet, and would have been forced by Neruda to face some of the insecurities that drove much of the complications in his life.
Thanks Craig,
for your kindness in granting us this interview and sincere congratulations for the book that we recommend to all lovers of literature and cooking. More or less everyone!
a few pages of his book in the Italian edition
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