Traditional British Food, Part 32: Two Georges

First up, we have St. George, the patron saint of England. St. George's Day was Friday, April 23rd, so I made a Treacle Tart to celebrate. Honestly, any holy day is a good excuse for a tart. This recipe is derived from The Cooking of the British Isles, Harvest Traditional British Cooking, and my own imagination.

Paul is constantly teasing me about how cheap I am, but if I hadn't saved my breadcrumbs, I couldn't have made this tart. It's really important to use breadcrumbs from actual bread rather than the breadcrumbs that come ready-made from the grocery store for this recipe, because the grocery store breadcrumbs are too dry.

Treacle Tart

Download PDF version of recipe here!

serves 8

Short crust pastry:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons milk

Cold water, as needed

Filling:

1 1/2 cups golden syrup

1 1/2 cups white breadcrumbs

juice from 1/2 small lemon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 egg, lightly beaten

For the crust:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Add the butter and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the milk and enough water so that the mixture forms a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease a 10" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Place it on a baking sheet and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to 1/8" thickness. Roll it over the rolling pin and place on top of the tart pan. Picking up the dough as you work around the pan, lightly press (don't tear the dough!) the dough into the tart pan. Use the rolling pin to roll over the top of the pan, removing excess dough. Set remaining dough aside.

In a bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Then, pour the filling into the tart pan. Use the leftover dough to decorate the top of the tart. You can cut it in strips for a lattice design, or use a cookie cutter to make decorative shapes.

Bake the tart (leave the tart pan on the baking sheet) in the middle of the oven for 3o minutes, or until filling is set and has puffed up a bit (it will fall back down when you cool it).

When the tart is ready, remove the outer ring and place the tart on a cooling rack. Cool for a few minutes and then serve. Leftovers can be kept, covered, in the fridge.

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Our second George is George Sanders, the actor. I enjoyed what I have inaugurated the First Annual George Sanders Film Festival this weekend. (Yes, I did watch a lot of movies. However, I was knitting most of the time, so that makes it OK.)

• Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)- Sanders plays newspaper reporter Scott ffolliott ("both small 'F's"), who helps Joel McCrea uncover a sinister plot to drive Europe to the brink of war; Hitchcock's plea for American support; great film that foreshadows Hitchcock's later work with James Stewart and Cary Grant
• Sundown (Henry Hathaway, 1941)- another propaganda film about British army officers who discover a German plot to arm tribes in Africa
• The Lodger (John Brahm, 1944)- Sanders, as Inspector John Warwick, sets out to capture Jack the Ripper and the heart of Merle Oberon (who didn't annoy the crap out of me for once); this film was a nice surprise--it doesn't fall into the trap of hokeyness, the cinematography is perfect, and Laird Cregar, who plays titular character, does a fantastic job
• A Scandal in Paris (Douglas Sirk, 1946)- Geroge Sanders--thief, lover, police chief?; fun popcorn movie; perfect for St. George's Day, because escaped convicts Vidocq (Sanders) and Vernet (Akim Tamiroff) pose for a painting of St. George and the dragon and abscond with the painter's horse!
• The Strange Woman (1946)- George Sanders as a lumberjack?!
• All About Eve (1950)- the only film I watched this weekend where Sanders actually plays a rotter (to perfection) in his Oscar-winning turn as Addison DeWitt, theatre critic and all-around stinker

All are available on DVD.

Link to Sundown (entire film) at Internet Archive
Link to The Strange Woman (entire film) at Internet Archive

Traditional British Food, Part 31: Soup Kitchen

Since we might have a few days left of rainy, not-too-hot weather, I thought it would be a good time to post my favorite (British) soups that aren't overly wintry. If Tomato Soup doesn't sound like comfort food to you, you're probably an alien. Or a cyborg. Or both. Or something equally unpleasant.



(Cream of) Tomato Soup

serves 8

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2-28 oz. cans tomato puree (or diced tomatoes, if you like a chunkier soup)
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional, but it makes everything better!

Soften the onion in butter over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, but not browned.

Add the remainder of the ingredients, except the cream, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer one hour.

Stir in one tablespoon of cream into each bowl of soup just before serving. (You could also use sour cream.)





I prefer this recipe to Potage Parmentier, because I don't have to put it though the food processor. Smooth soups are overrated. However, what is not overrated is heavy cream, which you could also add to this soup.

Leek and Potato Soup

serves 6

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 large leeks, finely sliced
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped
5 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper

Over medium heat, cook the leeks and onions in the butter until softened and translucent but not browned.

Add the potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the chicken stock and wine. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes. Season to taste.


Adapted from Traditional British Cooking.

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Two old Brit mysteries I've read recently and were great crappy weather reading and would go really well with soup (or tea, for that matter):

Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey- it's unconventional in that no crime occurs in the book and the detective is hospital-bound and attempting to solve the mystery of Richard III and the "Princes in the Tower"

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin- Oxford professor solves theatre-world murder; overall too much pompous use of phrases in French and Latin (even for snobbish moi) but has some great humorous moments and is a pleasant read

Traditional British Food, Part 30: Easter Biscuits

According to The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown, an Easter Biscuit is: "a circular biscuit with a fluted edge, 50-90mm in diameter, 5mm thick; Weight: 12-20g. Color: pale gold irregularly flecked with currants. Flavor: sweet, lightly spiced. Short texture" (40). My Easter Biscuits (cookies) are sweet and lightly spiced and contain currants. However, I didn't want to bake them all at once, so I turned them into slice-n-bake cookies and the source recipe I used makes much thicker cookies than 5mm.

The use of brandy in the recipe makes these Sedgemoor Easter Biscuits. Using lemon instead would make these London Easter Biscuits (41).


Easter Biscuits

yields 24

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (4 ounces) dried currants
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1 egg
1/4 cup brandy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, add the flour and butter. Cut the butter into the flour until mixture resembles moist sand. Stir in the sugar, currants and spices.

Add the egg and brandy and stir until all of the dough is moistened. If baking entire batch at once, roll the dough out to a half-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut with a cookie cutter. If you'd like to bake just a few at a time, use a large piece of parchment paper to form the dough into a 12"-long roll and slice off as many half-inch-thick cookies as you'd like. (Store remainder, wrapped in parchment, in a plastic bag in a freezer.)

Bake cookies (biscuits, whatever) on an ungreased, unlined baking sheet in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from "Sedgemoor Easter Cake" in Good Things in England by Florence White.

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I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to post today. The computer was acting up and refusing to start up. Thankfully, Paul came home and fixed it. It's aggravating that he basically tried the same things I did and the stupid thing worked for him. I am maintaining my uneasy peace with technology.

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Books that I've read and liked recently:

• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (I absolutely adore Flavia de Luce!)
  
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf
• Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (Much more subversive and sinister than the Disney version.)
  
• The Country Wife by William Wycherley
• Love for Love by William Congreve
• The Confederacy by John Vanbrugh (really wish I had my own comedy troupe right about now)
  
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows

TV/Films:

• Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952)
• Joseph Andrews (Tony Richardson, 1977)
• I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell, 1945) (This really is a rather silly movie, but it has Roger Livesey in it, way before he played the Duke of St. Bungay in The Pallisers.)
  
• Terry Jones: Medieval Lives (TV, 2004) (Great fun. Not just for Monty Python fans.)
  
• Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2004) (The first time I saw this was in the theatre and the sound was so low that no one could hear any of the dialogue. It is impossible to appreciate this film without being able to hear all the snide comments uttered by the various characters!)
  
• The House of Eliott: Series 1 (TV, 1991)
• Mad Men: Seasons 1-3 (TV, 2007-2009)

Until next time, dear readers!

Cakewalk (incorporating Traditional British Food, Part 29)

Yes, it's been awhile. I've just had a set of weeks where everything conspires against me actually getting anything substantive done besides knitting. Paul was sick then I was sick. I haven't been ill in almost 2 years and I had forgotten how miserable it is! I could only taste things that were so spicy they made my lips numb. Kind of rules out traditional British food! It's amazing that the very things that would make me absolutely miserable with indigestion under normal circumstances are the only foods I can even consider consuming when I'm sick. Paul had to make a trip to pick up Chinese food and I ordered the biggest container of Egg Drop Soup I've ever seen in my life and proceeded to pour enough Sriracha into it to kill a cat. It was wonderful.

Thankfully for all concerned, I have regained my normal capacities and have returned to the kitchen. I love cake. I know that, as a woman, I'm supposed to have an insane and pathetic need for chocolate, but it doesn't really do it for me. However, I do have an insane (but I refuse to call it pathetic) need for cake. I've made two wonderful tea time treats since my recovery and I'm going to share them with you.

Before I get to the recipes, I'm going to tell you to snub cake mixes! You don't need them because you are a perfectly rational and capable person and cakes really are easy. Plus, if you're anything like me, you'll be absolutely bursting with pride when you set it on the table. And it'll be super yummy.

First, we have the cake that fits into my traditional British food project--Kerry Apple Cake, which according to the author of the original recipe, was served in Ireland for the holiday that is Candlemas/Imbolc/St. Brigid's Day (February 2nd).* Here's my adapted recipe:



Kerry Apple Cake

serves 12

2 cups cake flour
6 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/2 lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons Demerara or sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8" square baking tin and line with parchment paper (be sure to leave enough hanging over the side so it's easy to remove the cake). Set aside.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and cut in the butter like you're making a pie crust. Next, stir in the salt, granulated sugar, baking powder and nutmeg. Add the apples and the eggs to the bowl and stir until the mixture is combined and moist. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Sprinkle the Demerara or sanding sugar over the cake and put in the oven to bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Grab the ends of the parchment and pull the cake out of its tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Divide into 12 pieces. Serve when warm.

Remaining pieces can be wrapped in tin foil and frozen.

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Second, we have a wonderful example of classic American baking (yes, we did get to have tea outside this week, very exciting):



Coconut Layer Cake

serves 12

Cake:
6 ounces cake flour (1 1/2 cups)**
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Frosting:
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 8" round cake tins. Set aside.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream butter, then add sugar and cream together until light and fluffy. I use an electric beater. Beat in egg yolks.

Beat in flour in a couple of additions, alternating with milk. Beat after each addition until smooth. Stir in vanilla and fold in egg whites, being careful that the egg whites don't lose their fluffiness.

Divide batter (I use an ice cream scoop) between the two tins and bake in the middle of the oven 20 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a cooling rack in their tins for about 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out on the rack to cool completely. This is very important! Don't even try to frost a warm cake! It will lead to disaster!

For the frosting:
This is a classic Seven Minute Frosting. I don't think people actually make it anymore, which is a shame. Well, we're going to remedy that. It's like a cross between marshmallow fluff and saltwater taffy and will make your kitchen sticky for days. It also is so easy to frost a cake with it--much easier than with buttercream frosting.

Combine all the ingredients, except vanilla, in the top portion of your double boiler (or in an aluminum bowl you're going to place on top of a saucepan). Beat with an electric beater until thoroughly combined. Bring the water in the bottom portion of the double boiler to a rapid boiler and put the top portion of the double boiler in place. Beat the mixture over boiling water for seven minutes. The mixture should now be thickened and glossy and looking very much like taffy being pulled, except much softer. Remove the top portion of the double boiler and turn off the heat. Add the vanilla and beat the frosting until it's thick enough to spread. It will be the thickness of marshmallow fluff or a little thicker. It will not be as thick as buttercream frosting. At this point, the frosting should be cooled, as well, so it will hold its shape when spread on the cake.

First, place the bottom layer of the cake (if you have a hump in the middle of your layer, place it facing up) on the cake stand and spread a layer of frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Use between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total amount of frosting to fill the cake. Next, place the second layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with gentle, circular motions. An offset spatula is well-nigh essential.

Finally, sprinkle coconut on top of the cake. I like to put the cake in the refrigerator for an hour or so before it's served, just to set everything up. This cake can be stored (covered) in the refrigerator for several days.

N.B., the coconut is totally optional, in case you're one of those people with a coconut phobia.

This recipe is adapted from a wonderful instructional manual I got at an estate sale: All About Home Baking, published in 1933 by General Foods Corporation.

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*White Lennon, Biddy, Best of Irish Festive Cooking (Dublin: O'Brien, 2006), 15.
**The original recipe called for 2 cups sifted cake flour, meaning that the flour was sifted before it was measured and then sifted again when it went into the cake. I discovered, through the use of my food scale, that 1 sifted cup of flour weighed an ounce less than unsifted flour, thus 2 cups cake flour becomes only 1 1/2 cups. I think this is why many modern cake recipes seem so dry and heavy.

Traditional British Food: Shrove Tuesday

In Britain, Shrove Tuesday is "Pancake Day." Of course, what they mean by "pancake" is not what we Americans think of as pancakes, flapjacks (also something else in British cooking) or griddle cakes (yet again, something else in British cooking), but what we, and the French, refer to as crêpes, just not the buckwheat kind. In Britain, these tasty reminders of unleavened Passover bread were, during the time Geoffrey Chaucer was writing, referred to as crisps or cresps (note 1), which has been replaced with the thoroughly Germanic "pancake."

Now that we've explored why pancakes in Britain are not called crêpes, let's talk about why it's absolutely essential to make crêpes on Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday (you might have heard it called Mardi Gras) is the last day before Lent. "Shrove" refers to the shriving (confession) of sins, but Shrove Tuesday is really about committing them. It was the "last opportunity for fun before the dietary, recreational, and sexual restrictions of Lent set in" (note 2). Crêpes were the perfect Shrove Tuesday food because they helped British housewives use up the foods that the Church forbid them to eat during Lent--meat, eggs and dairy.

Now, I've never observed Lent and I don't plan on starting any time soon, so preparing a pre-Lenten feast may seem futile. However, it's an opportunity for eating something traditional, and that's what I'm all about. Plus, crêpes are super-yummy and really should be eaten all year, not just on Shrove Tuesday.

Crêpe Batter
makes about 22 crêpes with an 8" fry pan (This is the pan I use: All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel Fry Pan | Williams-Sonoma)

1 cup cold water
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Bacon dripping

Add all the ingredients except the bacon drippings to a large mixing bowl and then blend with an immersion blender (or you can use a regular blender) until mixture is smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To make the crêpes, heat the fry pan over medium to medium-high heat (you'll probably have to adjust it throughout the process). Using a silicone pastry brush, apply a thin layer of bacon drippings and wait for the pan to get so hot that it's almost smoking. At this point, pick the pan up off the heat with your right hand and use your left to scoop out a scant 1/4 cup of batter. Pour the batter onto the pan, swirl it around to cover the base of the pan, and place the pan back on the heat. Cook for about 1 minute, flip and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a plate and cover with a cloth. Start over with another application of bacon drippings for the next crêpe. If your heat is correct, the crêpe will look like the photo above.

Recipe adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which seems weird considering this is Traditional British Food, but trust me on this one.

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Last week, I made roast chicken and thought crêpes would be a great way to use the cold meat. I also adapted this recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.


Chicken Velouté Crêpes (or, as Paul calls them, French enchiladas)

serves 4 (photo is of a half recipe)

8 crêpes

Filling:
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups cooked chicken, in bite-sized pieces
1/3 cup dry vermouth
A few sprigs thyme, leaves only, chopped

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 cup boiling chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Gruyère

For the filling, saute the shallots and garlic in the butter over medium-high heat in a large saucepan, until softened. Next, stir in the chicken and heat for a couple of minutes. Add the vermouth and thyme, turn the heat to high and boil until the vermouth is reduced to a glaze. Divide this filling between the crêpes, then place the filled crêpes, seam side down, in a casserole.

For the sauce, melt the butter over low heat then stir in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes, then stir in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. The sauce will be very thick. Stir it, as it boils, for two minutes, then reduce the heat to low and beat in the cream, one tablespoon at a time. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Pour the sauce onto the crêpes and place the casserole under the broiler until the sauce starts to brown. Serve immediately.

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In case you were wondering what to do with leftover crêpes, you can turn them into one of the most unhealthy breakfasts ever by tearing them into strips and sauteing them in butter and then sprinkling them with sanding sugar. Sure makes a nice alternative to oatmeal.

P.S. If you were wondering about the haggis, it was a huge disaster. It's a good thing we don't have a cat, because the poor creature would have had to eat haggis for a week. More info later.

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1. Marion Watson, "Flat as a Pancake," The British Food Trust, http://greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=54, accessed 18 February 2010.

2. Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 151.

Traditional British Food, Part 27: Food to Keep Out the Cold...and a book review

What better way to warm up than with a bowl of soup? I love split pea soup and not just because it's cheap. It also happens to be yummy. This recipe is adapted from Traditional British Recipes.

London Fog Soup...it's a real pea-souper!

serves 8

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup split peas
3 quarts chicken stock
2 teaspoons coarse salt (or to taste)
generous grinding of pepper

8 slices white bread, crusts removed
8 teaspoons butter, softened

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon starts to brown (just slightly!) and render its fat. This will take about 3 minutes. Don't let the bacon brown and crisp!

Add the onion, carrots and celery and turn the heat up to high. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Be sure to not let the vegetables brown, turning heat down if necessary.

Pour in the split peas and the chicken stock into the pot and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Season to taste.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter each slice of bread with 1 teaspoon butter then place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until crisp (like big croutons).

Divide the soup into bowls and served topped with toast.

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If you remember, I ended up with a lot of mincemeat this year. I've already made mincemeat tarts, but there's still mincemeat left over. These are cable cakes, which are scone/muffin thingys that have mincemeat in them instead of currants or blueberries or golden raisins. This recipe is adapted from Yorkshire Teatime Recipes.

Cable Cakes

makes 24

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lard (4 ounces)
3 cups mincemeat (1 pound)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two standard 12-cup muffin tins. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the sugar and lard (you can just use a wooden spoon so you don't have to get the mixer out) until light and fluffy. Stir in the mincemeat and mix well.

Add the flour (1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition) and the baking powder. Combine, but don't over mix.

Add the two eggs to the mixture and stir to combine. Then add the milk, a bit at a time (you may not need all of it), until the dough is moistened, but still stiff.

Using a trigger ice cream scoop if you have one, spoon the dough into the tins and bake for about 15 minutes, or until starting to brown, rotating tins halfway through. Cool on a wire rack.

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According to Kate Colquhoun's Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Food, Britons were cooking with saffron as early as the 12th century (p. 48). Saffron was cultivated in East Anglia, with yields peaking in the 16th and 17th centuries. This recipe for baked pears is based on Renaissance street food.



Pears Baked in Red Wine

I adapted the preparation and cooking time from this recipe, so I could use pears that were on sale at the grocery store that would never ever ripen.

serves 2

2 firm pears
1/2 cup red wine (I used Cabernet)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of saffron, crushed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel the pears, core them and slice them in half. Place the pear halves in one layer in a small casserole dish (I used a Le Creuset oval gratin; pyrex would work well, too). Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the pear halves.

Bake pears for 40-60 minutes until softened, turning halfway through. Serve the pears covered with the reduced wine sauce.

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Speaking of Renaissance Britain, I just finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, last year's Booker Prize winner. Mantel's work is a fictionalized account of Thomas Cromwell's world from the fall of Cardinal Wolsey until the execution of Thomas More. I was surprised that the book didn't cover more ground, considering the fact that it's 560 pages long!

However, Mantel does an excellent job of making Thomas Cromwell into a living being rather than just the tough-as-nails, emotionless lawyer portrayed in history books. The novel is very intimate; much of the text is Cromwell's internal dialogue and personal history. Thankfully, this wasn't the average novel about the court of Henry VIII with historical inaccuracies jumping out all over the place. I thought it was very well-researched and kept wondering how anyone could absorb the history as much as Mantel did to make it seem so personal.

Another nice thing about this novel is how Hilary Mantel writes the characters of the two other Thomases who figure largely in the text--Wolsey and More. It was a nice change of pace for Wolsey to be so sympathetic! He is unapologetically aware of his own hypocrisies and very likable. More, on the other hand, is difficult, abusive, scornful and proud--just how I always imagine religious fanatics. This may be unfair, but sometimes it's nice to see More not portrayed as a saint.

I wholeheartedly recommend Wolf Hall, with this word of warning: it's difficult at the beginning because of Mantel's lack of proper nouns--too many pronouns. It takes a while to realize that no matter who is in the scene, "he" is almost always Thomas Cromwell. I can't wait for some of you to read the book and tell me what you think.

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Next time:

It's Burns Night! Bring out the haggis (and the neeps and tatties)!