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Your 27 October food & drink takeaways

David Knight • 18 November 2024

A troubled poet’s extraordinary go-to recipe, a pop artist’s mouthwatering dessert and a downtrodden movie wife’s shocking calamari revelations. 

Just some of food & drink delights that 27 October brings to the table. 

Click on the links for extra helpings.

A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations

Food in writing

On the one hand, the go-to recipe of troubled American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath – born on this day in 1932 – could be considered "a danger both to themselves and to other people in the kitchen', as opined by writer Rachel Cooke in a Guardian review of the Faber publication Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake: A Compendium of Classic Authors’ Favourite Recipes.

On the other, Plath's devotion to the unusual cake {header photo} was just another stage in the development of 'a depression era magic cake', according to Diana Hubbell of the Atlas Obscura website, who writes:

"Sylvia Plath baked her mother’s tomato soup cake on the day she wrote “Death & Co.” in 1962. This was hardly unusual for the poet, who churned out apple pies and hot milk cakes dripping in caramel at a rate sometimes described as fanatical.

"Since her death in 1963, Plath’s recipes have become a source of obsession for many, as well as the subject of a popular Twitter account. Yet neither “Clara’s Basic Yeast Dough” nor “Granny’s Fish Chowder” carry quite the cultural resonance of the tomato soup cake. On paper, the recipe, which calls for one 10.5-ounce can of tomato soup, reads like a spectacular typo. Saline and decidedly savory, condensed soup seems like an unlikely addition to a confection, to put it mildly.

"Although many now associate this culinary curiosity with Plath, it predates her by four decades, if not more."

Click here for more details of the cake's history and for a recipe.

Food art of the day

Cherry Pie by leading American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, born on this day in 1923.

In its article 8 Artworks to Inspire You to Cook, the website of auction house Barnebys enthuses:

"Lichtenstein makes the classic American dessert look tantalising. He places the slice on an uncomplicated background, focusing all attention on the bountiful piece of homemade pie absolutely bursting with juicy cherry filling. Liechtenstein’s work surely serves up inspiration for your next baking project."

Food on screen

Writer Willy Russell’s romantic comedy movie Shirley Valentine starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti opened in UK cinemas on this day in 1989.

When Shirley goes to a restaurant with her small-minded friends Janet and Dougie – renowned for being rude, particularly towards waiters – Shirley's reveal about calamari leads Janet to collapse.

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