Hello crime readers and food lovers!  I’m going to kick this one off on a very personal note.  Middle Eastern Food is probably my favourite style and flavour of food. I love the largesse of the many plates of food, all designed for sharing that is so much a part of the cooking of this region. So I was hugely excited to read Death on The Nile.  Surely we would get some hummus, flatbread, falafel, slow-cooked lamb, maybe some baklava to finish….I was so up for this.  And was bitterly disappointed. There is not much food at all mentioned in Death on The Nile.  Hence we are eating Potatoes and Artichokes.  The potatoes and artichokes are not a bad dish, in fact they were really tasty!  Just not what I was expecting!

Death on The Nile – The Plot

Linnet Doyle,  a beautiful heiress, is honeymooning in Egypt with her husband Simon.  The two should be in the realms of newly wedded bliss however their trip has been spoiled by Linnet’s former friend and Simon’s former fiancee Jacqueline de Bellefort who is stalking the couple.  In an effort to evade Jackie, the couple embark on a trip down the Nile.

On a side trip to Abu Simbel, a large rock falls off a cliff, just missing Linnet.  Accident?  It could not have been Jackie, she was on the boat.  However, a few days later, a drunken Jackie shoots Simon Doyle in the leg.  That same night, Linnet is shot dead.  Again, it could not have been Jackie, after the incident with Simon, she spends the entire night both heavily sedated and under the watchful eye of one of the other passengers.

So, who killed Linnet Doyle?  Good thing Hercule Poirot is also on board the Karnak to solve the crime!

We have:

• A love triangle that leads to murder
• Stolen pearls and a missing stole
• A dodgy maid
• Shady business dealings
• Kleptomania
• Alcoholism
• A rebellious young man with communistic leanings
• And Colonel Race, who we last saw in Cards on The Table joins Poirot on the Karnak

Death on the Nile – The Covers

There is not a lot of variety in the covers for Death on The Nile.  They are largely images of the Karnak or Egypt.  Poirot features in a few and of course, we have a few “beautiful girl in peril” pulp-type covers.

But where I ask you is the crazy?  I have come to expect a few totally off-the-wall covers and was unable to anything really oddball.  I also could not find any non-English covers which also seemed odd given that this is such a well-known and loved Christie novel.

The Recipe – Roasted Potatoes and Artichokes

I found this recipe for Roasted Potatoes and Artichokes on Real Simple.  It was nice but I thought I could do a bit better.  So there is my revamped version.  You can of course keep it (real) simple and use the OG recipe

Roast Potatoes and Artichokes

Print Recipe

A simple and flavourful side dished based on a recipe from Real Simple and inspired by Death on The Nile!

• Author: Taryn Nicole
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Category: Side

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 500g chat or new potatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil plus one more for dressing the cooked potatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 garlic cloves
• I 275g jar of marinated artichokes
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• 5–6 sprigs of parsley, mint, chives or a combination of  them

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Par boil the new potatoes in salted water until they are just tender.  This will depend on the size of your potatoes but it took me 12 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes and cut them in half.
• Heat your oven to 180C.
• In a bowl big enough to hold the potatoes mix together the olive oil, salt and paprika.  Toss the potatoes through and then place them cut side down on a baking tray.
• Put them in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
• Drain your artichokes and pat dry.
• After twenty minutes and your artichokes and the garlic cloves to the baking tray with the potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes
• Chop your herbs and add to the extra olive oil with the black pepper and lemon juice.
• Remove the roasted garlic from the oven.  Squash down cloves so the roasted garlic puree comes out and add this to your oil and lemon mix.  Do this one by one and taste as you go so you can get the dressing to your desired level of garlicky goodness.
• Once you are happy with the dressing remove the potatoes and artichokes from the oven.  Place into a bowl and stir through the lemon / garlic / herb dressing.
• Enjoy while reading Death on The Nile!

 

Notes

Adding some onion wedges with the artichokes would also work well here.

If you wanted to sprinkle a little feta cheese over the top of the finished dish would be delicious!

Any leftover garlic can be kept in the fridge for a few days and added to anything that needs garlic.

Dr Bessner’s bulk moved up and down appreciatively. “Ho, ho, ho, it was very funny that!  Doyle, he tells me  about it.  It was a telegram all about vegetables – potatoes, artichokes, leeks – Ach!  Pardon?”

With a stifled exclamation Race had sat up in his chair.

“My God,” he said.  “So that’s it! Richetti!”

He looked round on three uncomprehending faces.

“A new code – it was used in the South African rebellion.  Potatoes mean machine guns, artichokes are high explosives  – and so on.”

Agatha Christie – Death on The Nile

If you would like to read of another instance where Artichokes were compared to weapons, click here.

Links to The Christieverse

• Christie has a short story also called Death on The Nile.  We will come to that one in due course.
• Miss Van Schuyler says to Poirot that she has heard of him from a mutual acquaintance, Rufus Van Aldin.  He was a character in The Mystery of The Blue Train
• The death of Mr Shaitana featured in Cards on The Table is mentioned.  It is said that it occurred a year earlier.
• Poirot mentions a case in which a red kimono was found in his luggage.  This refers to Murder on the Orient Express
• Poirot also speaks of attending an archaeological site which references Murder in Mesopotamia

The Film

Of course, we were not going to talk about Death on the Nile without mentioning the Kenneth Branagh film of the same which was released this year.  We saw it in the cinema and, although the reviews have been universally bad, I thoroughly enjoyed it.   I was not a fan of  Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express; this has not changed.  But I thought the film looked beautiful.  The scenery was spectacular and really made me want to go to Egypt to see those sights for myself.  I also loved its over-the-top opulence.  And I thought Gal Gadot and Emma Mackey were both perfectly cast.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Death on The Nile

Lots of booze here and not much food!

• Melba Toast
• Egg Nog
• Chartreuse
• Creme de menthe
• Lemonade
• Lemon squash
• Benedictine
• Whisky
• Orangeade
• Coffee
• Butter
• Wine
• Peardrops

To keep things neat, next up we are going to read the other Death on the Nile, the one contained in Parker Pyne Investigates.  Will I get falafel and hummus this time round?  I’m both doubtful and hopeful!