Dining With The Dame - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Dining With The Dame

12
Nov
2023

The Moving Finger – Irish Stew

categories: Dining With The Dame, Lamb, Marple

Hello crime readers and food lovers! This month our menu is a tribute to The Moving Finger, a 1942 novel by Agatha Christie featuring many people’s favourite amateur crime solver, Miss Jane Marple. In contrast to the last few novels in which we have dined with the Dame, The Moving Finger is loaded with mentions of food including an Irish Stew. My own opinions of stew match those of Megan Hunter (below) so when I made it, I thought that I would just have a taste and then the Fussiest Eater in the world could eat the rest. This is exactly the type of food he loves. My spoonful ended up being a whole bowl and I would have had another for lunch the following day if the leftovers hadn’t been commandeered by someone else! So success all round. I’ll definitely be making Irish Stew again.

The Moving Finger – The Plot

Jane Marple. Look at her well. I tell you, that woman knows more about the different kinds of human wickedness than anyone I’ve ever known.

Agatha Christie – The Moving Finger

Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna move to the “quiet” village of Lymstock so he can recover from injuries after a flying accident. Shortly thereafter, they receive an anonymous letter accusing them of being lovers. They burn the letter but soon learn that they are not the only people who are being targeted by the poison pen writer.

Although offensive, the letters consist of wild speculation and don’t seem to target actual wrongdoing. Then, one of the people from the village is found dead with a letter accusing her of adultery beside her.

We have:

The Police unable to solve the crimes
Another grisly murder where a housemaid is skewered to death. Did she see something she shouldn’t have
A book found with pages ripped out – the source of the letters
Local citizens suspecting each other

Good thing one of the villagers has the sense to call on her friend Jane Marple to set things right!

There are lots of things to love in The Moving Finger. The details of village life and the characters who live in it are well-written. My personal favourite is Mrs Dane Calthrop the Reverend’s wife. She is an original thinker and the person to contact Miss Marple. I love this response from her when asked if she has had a poison pen letter:

Oh yes, two, – no three. I forget what they said. Something very silly about Caleb and the schoolmistress, I think. Quite absurd, because Caleb has absolutely no taste for fornication. He never has had. So lucky being a clergyman

What we might call today “too much information”.

I also very much liked Partridge, Jerry and Joanna’s cook who seems to be in a constant bad temper.

There are also some things not to like. There is a more than likely gay man in the village and a few homophobic comments made about him. And there’s a weird romance going on between Jerry Burton and Megan Hunter.

Also, for a Marple novel, Miss Marple only enters on, in my edition, page 121 of a 160-page novel!

Apart from these few niggles, I very much enjoyed this novel.

The Moving Finger – The Covers

I was delighted to find so many non-English covers for The Moving Finger – we have French, Spanish, German, Czech, Swedish and others I cannot identify. My favourites are the German Die Scattenhand third row second left and the Swedish MordPer Korrespondens on the same row far right. The English cover, bottom row, far left is terrifying!

The Recipe – Irish Stew

“Murder is a nasty business on an empty stomach.”

Agatha Christie – The Moving Finger

For my Irish Stew I used the recipe on BBC Good Food by Bruno Desmazery.

As mentioned, this was delicious and, despite my initial reluctance was something I would definitely make and eat again! And, contrary to the quote from Megan Hunter below is not mostly potato and flavour. Although, maybe in 1942 with wartime rationing it may well have been.

I went round to apprise Partridge of the fact that there would be three to lunch. I fancy that Partridge sniffed. She certainly managed to convey without saying a word of any kind that she didn’t think much of that Miss Megan. I went back to the verandah. Ïs it quite alright?”asked Megan anxiously. “Quite alright ” I said.” Ïrish Stew.” “Oh well, that’s rather like dog’s dinner anyway isn’t it? I mean it’s mostly just potato and flavour””

Agatha Christie – The Moving Finger

Links To The Christieverse

None that I could find

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in The Moving Finger

Raspberry canes
Cocktails (multiple times)
Duck Eggs
Currant Loaf
Chops, Loin Chops
Breakfast
Tea (hot) (multiple times)
Cup Custards
Coffee (multiple times)
Rhubarb
French Beans, Runner Beans
Sherry (mutiple times)
Cakes
Whisky Soda (twice)
Milk and Bread
Milk (multiple times)
Christmas Pudding
Brandy
Eggs
Bacon
Cabbage
Caulilfower
Lobster
Chocolate
Clear gums
Throat Pastilles

December’s Read is Sparkling Cyanide.

21
Oct
2023

Oeufs Caroline – Five Little Pigs

categories: 1960's recipes, Dining With The Dame, Eggs, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers. In what is starting to become a bit of a trend, today’s post is dedicated to one of the main characters in Five Little Pigs, Caroline Crale. To many fans, Five Little Pigs is the nec plus ultra of the Christie novels. And it is an absolute cracker! We never actually meet Caroline as she is sixteen years dead when the story begins. But…what a character. I absolutely loved her. Her dignity, grace, loyalty, and fiery temperament made her a wonderful compelling and intriguing character.

I also feel that all egg recipes are a little wink to Poirot and his egg-shaped head!

I found the recipe for Oeufs Caroline in the French children’s cookbook called La Cuisine Est Un Jeu D’Enfants by Michel Oliver (1963). It is a very cute book and I will definitely cook more from it but the timing on this recipe was completely wrong. You have no idea how many times I ate Oeufs Caroline for lunch this week trying to get it right!

Five Little Pigs – The Plot

The accepted version of certain facts is not necessarily the true one.”

Agatha Christie – Five Little Pigs

A young woman called Carla Lemarchant approaches Hercule Poirot with a very unusual case. Sixteen years ago, her mother, Caroline Crale was found guilty of poisoning her father Amyas Crale. However, before she died in prison, Caroline sent a letter to her daughter professing her innocence. Carla wants Poirot to find out the truth. Did her mother kill her father? Poirot focuses his investigation on the five people, apart from Carla and Caroline who were present on the day Amyas died. For if Caroline is not guilty, then one of them is…

We have:

Philip Blake

A stockbroker (went to market, geddit?) was one of Amyas’ closest friends. On the day of Amyas’ death, he overhears an argument between Caroline and Amyas where Caroline threatens to kill him. Philip is apparently no fan of Caroline and puts the murder down to “crude female jealousy. However, does he have a secret desire to see Amyas dead?

Meredith Blake

Philip’s brother. Unlike his brother who is a successful broker, Meredith stayed home and dabbled in herbalism and other country pursuits. It is some coniine from his laboratory that killed Amyas. Unlike his brother, Meredith admits a fondness for and a loyalty to Caroline. He argues with Amyas saying that the situation with Elsa was an “”unendurable insult” and not fair to either woman. Might seeing the woman he cares for being mistreated have given him a motive for murder?

Elsa Greer (now Lady Dittisham)

The little piggy who had roast beef. She was a rich, spoiled beautiful, young woman in love with Amyas. It is her deliberate provocation of Caroline on the day of the murder that many people see as being the catalyst for later, lethal events. Poirot…”saw her beautiful and rich, seductive to men, seeking with greedy predatory hands to fill up a life that was empty”. She is still vitriolic about Caroline and says she would have preferred to see her hanged.

Cecilia Williams

Angela Warren’s former governess. She is a shrewd, fiercely loyal woman, living “close to the bone”. She epitomises the one who has none. She believes that Amyas got what was coming to him, her sympathies are entirely with Caroline. But she also has proof, never previously disclosed that Caroline murdered Amyas

Angela Warren

Caroline’s half-sister. Caroline is overly protective of Angela after disfiguring her face in a fit of pique as a much younger woman. Angela is spoiled and enjoys playing tricks on Amyas. He wants to send her away to school. She doesn’t want to go and this is causing some additional friction between Amyas and Caroline (as if there wasn’t enough already -the two are already, to quote Bonnie Tyler, “Living in a powderkeg and giving off sparks!).

Amyas Crale

And finally, let’s talk about Amyas. In my first few drafts of this, I didn’t include a description of him because I felt we all know this character. That is not to say that he is badly drawn but because many of us have met this person in real life. He is an Artist and everything and everyone around him comes second to his art…back in my uni days, I would have found him irresistible. Now, the sheer arrogance and gall of this man would make me want to stab him in the neck.

Amyas was…a ruthless egoist. He loved Caroline but he never once considered her in any way. He did as he pleased…he was as fond of her as he could be of anybody – but she came a long way behind his art

Agatha Christie – Five Little Pigs

🤮

Well, just like Shaggy, it wasn’t me but it was someone. And it will take all of Poirot’s little grey cells to figure this one out!

Five Little Pigs – The Covers

There’s nothing too crazy in the covers, lots of references to Amyas being an artist, and a few to the poisoned beer. My favourites are the second row, second left for its pulp fiction feel and amazing font. And I also really like third row first on the left with the artist and his brushes.

The Recipe – Ouefs Caroline

I have included here both the OG recipe from Cuisine Est Un Jeu D’Enfants and my updated version.

Oeufs Caroline

Print Recipe

A lovely breakfast or lunch dish, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Three Little Pigs

Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale

1 tomato
1 egg
1 slice of bread (I used a potato and rosemary bread)
1 tbsp Creme Fraiche
Chives or other herbs to garnish
Butter, Salt Pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Cut the top off the tomato and scoop out the insides with a spoon.
Sprinkle the inside of the tomato with salt and turn upside down. This will help to drain a lot of the tomato juice. Otherwise, your eggs will be very watery. Leave for 1/2 -1 hour.
Heat your oven to 180C.
Crack the egg and separate. I found it easier to put the yolk into the tomato first and then top up with the white. Don’t overfill. You need some room to add the creme fraiche.
Butter your bread and place the tomato on top of it.
Place your egg-filled tomato and bread into the oven and cook for approximately 15 minutes for a soft egg and 25 minutes for a harder egg. Check this as cooking time will depend on the size of your tomato.
After 15-25 minutes add the creme fraiche to the egg, turn off the oven and turn on the grill. Grill for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and garnish with herbs, salt and pepper.

Notes

I wanted to keep mine vegetarian but you could add a rasher or two of bacon when you place the tomatoes under the grill.

And Caroline Crale? Each person had seen her differently. Montague Depleach had despised her as a defeatist-a quitter. To young Fogg she had represented Romance. Edmunds saw her simply as a ‘lady’. Mr Jonathan had called her a stormy, turbulent creature. How would he, Hercule Poirot, have seen her? On the answer to that question depended, he felt, the success of his quest. So far, not one of the people he had seen had doubted that whatever else she was, Caroline Crale was also a murderess.”

Agatha Christie – Five Little Pigs

Links To The Christieverse

Poirot brings a letter of introduction from Lady Mary Lytton-Gore with him when he meets Meredith Blake.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Five Little Pigs

Butter
Beer
Coffee
Sandwiches
Plums, sour apples, hard pears
Dandelion Tea
Roast Beef
Gin, Vermouth, Lemonade, Gingerbeer
Fruit
Fish

November’s read is The Moving Finger

14
Sep
2023

The Body In The Library – Chicken Ruby

categories: Dining With The Dame

Hello crime readers and food lovers. Today we are tucking into a delicious Chicken Ruby as we read The Body in The Library. The Body in the Library didn’t mention much food, so I improvised. Having said that, I am actually enjoying the improvisations as they are making me seek out recipes I may never have cooked otherwise! This time, in honour of poor Ruby Keene who is one of the murder victims, I decided to cook Dishoom’s Chicken Ruby.

Chicken Ruby?

The name Chicken Ruby is a nod to cockney rhyming slang (Ruby Murray = Curry). Ruby Murray was a very popular singer in the 1950’s. The Body in The Library was published in 1942, so Ruby Murray would not have described a curry then. However, curry has been known in Britain since the 17th century. Wikipedia also tells me there was a surge in the popularity of curry in the 1940s so it is quite possible that Miss Marple and the Bantry’s may well have sat down to a “ruby murray”. Not that they would have ever called it that, even if the term had existed because this book is not only about murder it is also very much about class differences.

The Chicken Ruby was delicious. It was a mild curry but packed with flavour! I make quite a few curries and this came closest to tasting like a restaurant curry that I have ever eaten! Chicken Ruby is also the first recipe I cooked from the Dishoom Cookbook. This always puts me in a dilemma – do I make it again because it was so good? Or do I try other recipes from the book hoping that they too will be delicious? It’s a nice dilemma to have. What is not a nice dilemma is finding a dead body in your library, so lets find out how the Bantry’s deal with it.

Class in The Body In The Library

Actually, before we get to the plot, I will preface my discussion of the novel by saying that there is a tone in this book that I did not enjoy. There is an almost universal lack of care for Ruby Keene. Dolly Bantry is almost giddy with excitement about having a murder in her house. There is a mass of victim-blaming and disparaging remarks being made about Ruby being “cheap” “tawdry”, and “not a lady”. Another example, this time from the POV of Superintendent Harper:

“Ruby Keene. so he admitted privately, might have asked for what was coming to her, but Pamela Reeves was quite another story. A nice kid if ever he saw one. He’d not rest until he’d hunted down the man or woman who’d killed her.”

The lack of compassion shown to Ruby really rankled with me and spoilt my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

The Body In The Library -The Plot

We start with a series of discussions that reminded me of the AA Milne poem The King’s Breakfast:

“The King asked the Queen and the Queen asked the dairy maid…”

Only this time it is the maid waking Dolly Bantry and then Dolly waking Colonel Bantry, not to ask for some butter for the royal slice of bread, but to exclaim that “There’s a body in the library”. And indeed the dead body of a young woman with dyed blonde hair, lots of makeup, and a spangled satin dress is lying in the library. Whilst Colonel Bantry summons the police. Dolly sends a car to fetch her old friend Miss Marple. Because she’s “very good at murders.”.

Ruby Keene, a young dancer from a nearby hotel is reported missing. The character of Ruby made me think of the Copacabana song

“Her name as Lola, she was a showgirl

With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there

She would merengue and do the cha-cha

Then another girl is reported missing. Pamela Reeves does not return home after a Girl Guides rally

Could the two disappearances be connected?

And just who is the body in the library?

We have:

Early on, Dolly Bantry says ” All these girls with their make up and their hair and their nails look so alike” which reminded me of Poirot’s quote in Evil Under The Sun about all dead bodies looking the same. Keep this in mind as you read!
A louche young man called Basil Blake who has been known to keep company with a platinum blonde woman and who is also known to run fast and loose
Some incongruously bitten fingernails
A wealthy invalid who had a little crush on Ruby. Might his family have done away with Ruby in order to ensure they inherit his money?
George Bartlett, Ruby’s last dance partner on the evening she went missing. Might he have wanted to take things a bit further and events went horribly wrong?
George’s car going missing
A burnt-out car found in a quarry with traces of a body in it

Luckily we have Miss Marple on hand to figure out what actually happened to our two young victims!

The Body In The Library – The Covers

Not too many surprises here – lots of bodies, lots of libraries. There seems to be a fondness for foreshortening the body or showing only the feet of the body. I am surprised that one of them chose to show a policeman and not Miss Marple!

Here is a close-up of some of the detail from the Tom Adams cover which is the one I own. There are two little flies crawling over the foot of the dead girl.

In Tom Adams Uncovered, John Curran says:

Once again the image of a fly is put to effective use to indicate death and decay. The suggestion of luxury in the rug, counteracted by the cheap beaded dress and the gaudily painted toenails, perfectly captures the juxtaposition of the ostentatious young body in the library of staid Colonel Bantry.

The Recipe – Dishoom’s Chicken Ruby

At the trisk of repeating myself, this was amazing! I marinated the chicken in yoghurt and spices then I grilled it. I then added the grilled chicken to a tomato-sauce laced with spices. At the end, I added a good dollop of cream. The recipe calls for cubes of chicken, however, I realised a little too late that what I had taken out of the freezer were chicken cutlets. I didn’t really mind as cooking meat on the bone usually only improves the flavour!

Here is my chicken just after I added the cream

I wish I’d made more of this!

“Downstairs in the lounge, by the third pillar from the left, there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid spinsterish face, and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human iniquity and taken it as all in the day’s work. Her name’s Miss Marple.”

Agatha Christie – The Body In The Library

Links to The Christieverse

Dolly Bantry tells Miss Marple that she is very good at murder, referring to her past cases.
In a little bit of name-dropping a young boy, Peter Carmody who is a fan of detective novels says “I read them all and I’ve got autographs from Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie and Dickson Carr and H.C. Bailey”.
An Ariadne Oliver novel, called The Body In The Library, is mentioned in Cards on The Table.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in The Body In The Library

Tea
Bacon for breakfast
Expensive Wines

Other Christie News

Agatha Chrstie’s birthday was this past week. She was born 15 September 1890.

My mum and I went to see A Haunting in Venice and we loved it!

October’s book is a big one! Five Little Pigs is a novel much loved by Christie enthusiasts. I can’t wait!

21
Aug
2023

N or M – Aperol Betty

categories: Aperol, Dining With The Dame, Drinks

Hello crime readers and food lovers. Or in this case, cocktail lovers because we are celebrating Agatha Christie’s wartime thriller N or M with an Aperol Betty. N or M has few references to food. I wonder if Agatha Christie did this intentionally as food was rationed during the war. Reading about lots of food may have led to readers becoming disgruntled with their Mock Crab and other wartime foods. I found my inspiration from one of the characters in the novel Betty Sprott, who despite only being a little girl is key to two pivotal parts of the novel!

N or M -The Plot

It is 1940 and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are disheartened because no one wants them for war work. Tommy is then approached by Mr Grant, the head of the secret service to hunt out some fifth columnists. Tommy is sent on a top-secret mission to Leahampton, to search out two Nazi agents, a male and a female, known only by their code names, N and M. Imagine his surprise then on his arrival at the Sans Souci guesthouse to see Tuppence there!

We have quite the cast of shady characters including

A landlady who may or may not be Irish
A German refugee chemist
A female resident of the Sans Souci who is watching Tuppence very closely
A mysterious Polish woman hanging about the Sanc Souci
Little Betty kidnapped
The kidnapper killed by a crack shot from Mrs Sprott
Someone hitting Tommy over the head with a hammer
Someone holding Tommy captive in their basement

Luckily we have Tommy and Tuppence on hand to figure out who is N and M and save Britain from the evils of Nazism via enemies from within. .

This is a thrilling tale that I feel really captures what life might have been like in England during 1940. I really enjoyed the depiction of “ordinary” life at this time – the talk of the war, everyone having their own theories or having heard “on good authority” what was happening at the front. The setting for this tale of espionage is perfect and Tommy and Tuppence are as adorable as ever!

N or M – The Covers

There are some fabulous covers here, lots of French ones, a Danish one and one that I think might be from Hungary.

The Recipe – Aperol Betty

The Aperol Betty is a very simple but very tasty cocktail with a strong citrussy taste. It was even easier for me because I didn’t even have to bother to combine the grapefruit and orange juices in the recipe. We have a tangelo tree (tangelo = tangerine x grapefruit) in our garden which is currently laden! (Also look how pretty that bright orange looks on a grey Melbourne winter day!!!!

But anyway, when life gives you this many tangelos, you don’t go buying grapefruit or orange juice! I walked to the garden and chose some lovely fresh fruit for my drink!

Here’s the recipe with the OG ingredients!

Betty had changed her mind and demanded instead:

“Wead me story.”

Tuppence pulled out a rather tattered book from one end of the cupboard – to be interrupted by a squeal from Betty.

“No, no. Narsty…Bad…”

Agatha Christie – N or M

As an alternative, for anyone who does not drink, the close runner up for this was a Pasta all N or Ma. I didn’t make this because I am somewhat allergic to aubergines / eggplants but if you were having an N or M themed dinner, for me, the pasta would be a good choice!

What does Agatha Christie have in with Leonard Dawe?

First, I hear you ask, who is Leonard Dawe?

Well. he was a crossword compiler for the Daily Telegraph who was investigated by MI5 in 1944 because he published the names of several of the D-Day Landing sites in his crosswords.

A few years earlier, Agatha Christie got into trouble over the name of one of the characters in N or M. One of the residents at Sans Souci is Major Bletchley. In the 1940s, Bletchley Park was the place where code breakers ultimately cracked the German enigma machine. Of course, neither Dame Agatha nor Leonard Dawe were acting in an untoward manner but they were both investigated by MI5 for their unfortunate choices! (I really hope that after they questioned her, Dame Agatha then grilled MI5 on their techniques for her next novel)

Links to The Christieverse

There are a few references to the earlier Tommy and Tuppence novel, The Secret Adversary.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in N or M

Whiskey
Tea
Bread and Cheese

As mentioned, last week, I am currently on holiday in beautiful Port Douglas. Part of my reading material for the trip is The Body In The Library which will be our September Dining with The Dame read. Marple fans, this one’s for you!

Have a great week!

09
Jul
2023

Chinese Lemon Chicken: Evil Under The Sun

categories: Chicken, China, Dining With The Dame, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Welcome to Dining with the Dame for July and a collab with Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. We have been reading/watching Evil Under The Sun. I loved this book. It reminded me of both Triangle in Rhodes and Death on the Nile, books I also loved. Maybe I just love an ill-fated love triangle. I was very disappointed that there was no food mentioned in this one – it is set in the delightfully named Jolly Roger Hotel (based on the Burgh Island Hotel). I would have thought that we might get the details of at least one meal in such a grand establishment but sadly that was not to be. Enter Jenny to save the day with a recipe for not just any old Chinese Lemon Chicken but David Suchet’s Chinese Lemon Chicken!!! I almost feel like we have two special guests this time round, Jenny and David Suchet! What an amazing dinner party that would be!

Evil Under The Sun -The Plot

Hercule Poirot is on holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel in Devon. The hotel, which as mentioned has a very real-life counterpart, is located on a causeway that is underwater during high tide, accessible only via boat (book) or sea tractor (real life). One wonders why Hercule Poirot who, as we know suffers badly from “la mal de mer” would choose to holiday on an island remains unexplained in the book. The Poirot episode of Evil Under The Sun, explains this by saying that the hotel is a wellness spa that Poirot must attend for his health.

We have:

Stephen Redfern and Arlena Marshall, both married, (not to each other) having a very public attraction to each other
Two upset spouses
Arlena strangled to death on the beach
One of the other guests almost beaned by a bottle thrown out of a window
An oddly timed bath
A troubled teen buying candles
Arlena’s husband and his childhood sweetheart both being lying liars who lie
Drug smuggling in Pixy Cove
A reverend obsessed with evil in general and evil women in particular

Good thing we have Poirot on hand to solve the mystery of whodunnit!

Evil Under The Sun – The Covers

Again, the Christie covers do not fail to disappoint. Except maybe that Hawaiian Dancing Girl in Les Vacances D’Hercule Poirot…which…nice try French people but not really relevant! The impressionist-style Russian title (top left) is gorgeous! I also really like the second row far right which to me has a bleached-out California 1960s vibe. It may be more Helter Skelter than Hercule Poirot but is very attractive all the same. I also really like bottom row, second from the right, which gives a nod to Arlena’s red hair, green Chinese hat and Linda’s foray into witchery.

The Recipe – Chinese Lemon Chicken

Chinese kimonos are optional but heartily recommended!

I was feeling lazy the first night we ate this and served it with some bought fried rice and spring rolls. The second night, I stir-fried up some kale and cashew nuts to eat with the Chinese Lemon chicken. Both worked really well.

Emily Brewster said..”this isn’t the sort of place you’d get a body!”

Hercule Poirot stirred a little in his chair. He protested. He said:

“But why not Mademoiselle? Why should there not be what you call a “body” here on Smuggler’s Island?”

Emily Brewster said: “I don’t know. I suppose some places are more unlikley than others. This isn’t the kind of spot –” She broke off, finding it difficult to explain her meaning.

“It is romantic, yes, ” agreed Hercule Poirot. “It is peaceful. The sun shines. The sea is blue. But you forget Miss Brewster, there is evil everywhere under the sun:

Agatha Christie – Evil Under The Sun

A Slight Tangent on Poirot’s Attire

“There was one very important person (in his own estimation at least) staying at the Jolly Roger. Hercule Poirot, resplendent in a white duck suit , with a panama hat tilted over his eyes, his moustaches magnificently befurled, lay back in an improved type of deck char and surveyed the bathing beach”

Now, if like me, you are not 100% familiar with male couture of the late 1930’s and have only a limited idea of what a duck suit is…let me give you some advice. Unless you specify 1930’s duck suit in your search, you are more likely to get a whole heap of this:

And not a lot of this!

Also, speaking of costumes, I have not seen the Peter Ustinov version of Evil Under The Sun but I will pay good money for it, just to see this scene!

Magnifique, as Poirot himself might say! (Peter Ustinov also looks like je might be about to tuck into a place of Chinese Lemon Chicken in that kimono!)

And on Casting…

I know that the Poirot version of Evil Under The Sun is not held in high regard by many people. However, I think Michael Higgs is perfectly cast as Patrick Redmond. He is undeniably handsome but also has a slightly dissolute air about him – a combination the French would call louche and good girls everywhere who love a bad boy call hot! (Also louche is one of my favourite words and finally after 11 years I get to use it on the blog!)

Equally Tamzin Malleson is perfect as Christine Redmond:

Links to The Christieverse

Mrs Gardner mentions “That business in Egypt when Linet Ridgeway was killed” referring to Death on The Nile (and also possibly setting the scene for another love triangle?)

When Colonel Weston talks of “that affair at St Loo” he is referring to Three Act Tragedy

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Evil Inder The Sun

Strawberry Jam
Dry Martini
Bacon and Eggs (of course)
Cup of Tea x 2
Poisoned Chocolates
Devonshire cream
Sandwiches

Thanks to Jenny for providing the David Suchet recipe, I hope you enjoyed your foray into the world of Agatha Christie! For everyone else, please pop over to Silver Screen Suppers to see Jenny’s take on the recipe. (I will link to it when it is up).

August’s read will be N or M. I finished reading it today and it is a super Tommy and Tuppence World War 2 Thriller! I am reading ahead because I am on holiday for part of August so need to be super organised to make sure I can get that post out before I leave.

Have a great week!