Thursday, February 23, 2006

tarte a la diva mcneil

I finally finished reading the biography on Dame Nellie Melba, one of the reputed Diva's of the early 20th century. I've always known that she's the reason we have thinly sliced dry toast otherwise known as melba toast but I didn't' realize that the dessert Peach Melba was named after her. Apparently she loved ice cream but could eat it only rarely, afraid that the chill would damage her vocal chords. A French chef guy created a sauce of raspberries, redcurrant syrup and sugar, which took off the initial chill, so the ice cream couldn't "shock" her vocal cords.

Me thinks I need a dessert named after me :) Something dramatically delicious yet meets a particular Diva need, like Nellie's "don't want to shock the vocal chords" excuse . I'm all about blood oranges lately, they are pretty dramatic with their crimson interiors. I had a blood orange tart the other day at a fancy schmancy restaurant downtown. It was sweet, rich, yet delightfully surprising and it looked pretty( much like myself :) Maybe I'll call up the chef at The Edward and ask if he'll consider changing the name to "tarte a la diva mcneil". One thing needs to be changed though to meet one of my Diva needs; the tarte needs to be topped with a caramelized sugar tiara, just in case a Diva was to traumatically forget her most important accessory at home.

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