Eating Shakespeare

I thought this sounded like a lot of fun. As part of the celebration of Shakespeare's 400th anniversary, Chicago Shakespeare Theater has partnered with a bunch of great Chicago chefs to create a year of wonderful offerings, one to celebrate each of the bard's plays.

I got a chuckle out of the fact that Pleasant House Bakery got Titus Andronicus, since one of the plot elements is Titus baking the children of his enemy in pies. Don't know that every other connection is as clear as this, but they all look like fun.

Here's the link to the Shakespeare 400 restaurant listing, along with which months each restaurant is assigned -- or if they're in for the whole year.
http://shakespeare400chicago.com/culinaryworks.html

I haven't got the money or the time to try to hit the culinary tribute to every play in Shakespeare's canon, but I'm definitely going to try for a few of my favorite plays. Would love to find out who else might be pleased with this very fun approach to celebrating the bard's anniversary.

After just a quick look at the link you posted, I urge the CST to cast each of the chefs in the play he or she was assigned. I mean, Giuseppe Tentori in Coriolanus? Perfect fit. Art Smith as Gloucester? I'd pay retail to see Cornwall pluck his eyes out. And who wouldn't want to see Kevin Hickey as Falstaff?

One obvious question: what did Matthias Merges do to get stuck with Henry VI, Part 1?

Choey wrote:After just a quick look at the link you posted, I urge the CST to cast each of the chefs in the play he or she was assigned. I mean, Giuseppe Tentori in Coriolanus? Perfect fit. Art Smith as Gloucester? I'd pay retail to see Cornwall pluck his eyes out. And who wouldn't want to see Kevin Hickey as Falstaff?

One obvious question: what did Matthias Merges do to get stuck with Henry VI, Part 1?

Don't know Matthias Merges, but I imagine there is something that connects. Henry VI is not on my list of favorite plays, mind you, but not as low down on the list as Titus Andronicus or Timom of Athens. And can't say that parts 2 or 3 are better options. Still, it would be fun to find out the reason each chef was picked.

I worry about The Tempest: The only feast there was a tease, snatched away before eating.

JoelF wrote:I worry about The Tempest: The only feast there was a tease, snatched away before eating.

But it was magical.

That said, I'm certain Prospero must have eaten fairly well all those years -- but probably a lot of seafood.

Timon of Athens also has a feast which is a tease (nothing edible in the tureens).

JoelF wrote:I worry about The Tempest: The only feast there was a tease, snatched away before eating.

Although Caliban does have a simple but varied diet (with probably a good deal of fresh seafood as mentioned above), as he reveals to Stephano:

"CALIBAN
I’ll show thee the best springs. I’ll pluck thee berries.
I’ll fish for thee and get thee wood enough.
. . .
I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow.
And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts,
Show thee a jay’s nest, and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmoset. I’ll bring thee
To clustering filberts, and sometimes I’ll get thee
Young scamels from the rock."

The meaning of "scamel" by the way is uncertain, so it should provide the chef with some space for his/her imagination

So - it had to be. Chef Regan of Elizabeth is the perfect choice for Cymbeline, with the banished Belarius and the kidnapped sons of the king living and foraging in the forest for years. The only way it could be a better fit for Regan is if they cross-cast the role of Belarus, as they did for my daughter at Interlochen. She was a lovely and nurturing "Bellaria" with a crown of (probably edible) flowers! It certainly softens the kidnapping aspect, anyway.

NPR has an article on Shakespeare and food.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/20/475000625/cooking-with-the-bard-we-suss-out-shakespeares-forgotten-foods