April 30

Alice Babette Toklas' Birthday

Gertrude Stein (left) and Alice B. Toklas (right)

The relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas provided the opening dialogue in a M*A*S*H* episode in which Hawkeye's concise assessment of the couple was "They wrote together, they traveled together, am gave each other German haircuts."

After moving to Paris in 1907,Alice met Gertrude met in 1907 and soon became life partners. Gertrude and Alice hosted a salon in Paris that attracted expatriate American writers, avant-garde painters, and famous photographers. Alice was always living in Gertrude's shadow until Stein published her memoirs in 1933 under the title The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

It was Alice's inclusion of her friend Brion Gysin's recipe for "Haschich Fudge" in her memoir/cookbook, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, that brought her international fame. This recipe was later modified into a cannabis brownie recipe that captured the imagination of thousands of glassy-eyed amateur bakers and became known as Alice B. Toklas brownies. The term "toke" (referring to taking a hit of marijuana) is accredited to Toklas' name.

A shallow testament to her drug culture fame was provided by the 1968 Peter Sellers film, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas. There however, an interesting 1996 biographical film, Gertrude Stein and a Companion, with Marian Seldes as Alice. More memorable is the reference to Toklas and Stein in both the stage and film versions of Mame. In a lyric of the song Bosom Buddies, Vera Charles declares: "But sweetie, I'll always be Alice Toklas if you'll be Gertrude Stein."

Gertrude preferred writing and engaging her coterie of writers, artists, and other friends in spirited discussions. Alice preferred to stay in the background and served as her cook, secretary, muse, editor, critic, and general organizer. They both loved traveling and good food. Alice began collecting recipes primarily from provincial French restaurants that eventually were included in The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook which was one of the best selling cookbooks of the 1950's and has never gone out of print, due in part for her hashish fudge recipe.

The following recipe Alice's birthday is Morilles a la creme = an adaptation of Alice's recipe, Alice's recipe calls for morels which are mushrooms with convoluted spongy caps resembling a honeycomb. Morels range in color including black (Morchella angusticeps), yellow (Morchella esculenta), and white (Morchella deliciosa), and in size from two to five inches, although the giant yellow morel called can grow up to twelve inches. Black morels are considered to be the most delicious of the mushrooms and in Scandinavian countries, they are known as "the truffles of the north."

We suggest pairing this popular French dish with a viewing of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011) in which Alice is played by Thérèse Bourou-Rubinsztein.

Les Morilles a la creme
(Morel Flan)

Special Equipment:

1 10" flan pan with a removable bottom

Ingredients

1 recipe for a 10 inch basic pastry *
1 lb fresh morels (If using dried morels, use 1/2 lb
and soak them in sherry for 1/2 hour)
3 TB fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped leeks (whites only)

3 TB butter
3 TB sherry (omit if using reconstituted morels soaked in sherry)
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
3 cups Morney sauce*

*Refer to Appendix A

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F.
Line flan pan with pastry. Lightly prick dough. Do not pierce through dough or Morney sauce will leak through crust. Fill crust with beans or rice and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove beans or rice.
Melt butter in skillet. Lightly cook leeks until softened. Add morels, lemon juice, am sherry am cook for 6 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste. Remove skillet and set aside.
Layer morel mixture in flan. Set pan on oven shelf. Pour in Morney sauce. Slide flan into oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until set. Do not let filling brown. Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes before cutting am serving