Okay, I need to tell you upfront that there is no brownie recipe at the end of this post. There is, however, a recipe for chocolate mousse. Confused? Keep reading...
When I was in high school in the early 70s (yes, I am that old!), there were common references to 'Alice B. Toklas Brownies.' Being fairly naïve, I didn't learn until I was in college that this referred to brownies laced with marijuana. I had no idea who Alice B. Toklas was, or why she was famous for these brownies. Some hippie, I assumed. As I neared my senior year in college, I discovered the poetry and writings of Gertrude Stein; my college opera department put on Four Saints in Three Acts with music by Virgil Thompson and the libretto by Gertrude Stein. It was a pivotal moment for me in my love of 20th century opera. I still didn't know who Alice was.
Flash forward several years when I was principal bassist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. I came to know a patron of the orchestra and we became close friends over the years. Bunny opened my eyes to many wonders in life, and continues to do so to this day. Once, at her home on the Hudson River, she served a chocolate mousse from the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book. "Who was Alice?" I asked - finally I could find out. Bunny told me about her and Gertrude Stein, and how they were life-long partners, and that Alice had written the cookbook, and that Gertrude had written Alice's autobiography! What about the brownies?
She went on to tell me that, in some versions of the book (including hers), the original recipe for the 'Alice B. Toklas Brownies' is printed. "But," she said, "they aren't actually brownies, it is a recipe for Haschich Fudge." Knowing my love for chocolate, she warned, "Don't get too excited, though, I don't think there is any chocolate in them either!" Thus the title for this post - the brownies that never were brownies! It turns out that they are fruit and nut balls spiced with cinnamon, coriander, black pepper, nutmeg, sugar and - of course - cannabis, held together with a pat of butter.
In a time before Amazon, I started my search for an old copy of the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book through the Bryn Mawr Bookstore - a used book shop. They were able to track down a first American edition for me dated 1954; tucked inside the front cover was a copy of Alice's obituary from 1967. I was sure the book would have the much talked about recipe, but it didn't. Happily, Bunny photocopied hers and I have inserted it where it belongs in my book, right after the chocolate mousse recipe that she made that evening.
I discovered years later that the British edition has the recipe and that the editors caught on before issuing the American edition. When confronted about the recipe, Alice simply said that all the recipes in her book were given by friends and not all were tested... Thus, she had NO idea about the haschich fudge recipe. Seriously? Me thinks the lady doth protest too much! Still, who cares? It's a fun story. And the introduction to the recipe is priceless:
Haschich Fudge
(which anyone could whip up on a rainy day)
This is the food of Paradise - of Baudelaire's Artificial Paradises:
it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies' Bridge
Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR.In Morocco it is thought
to be good for warding off the common cold in damp winter
weather and is, indeed, more effective if taken with large
quantities of hot mint tea. Euphoria and brilliant storms of
laughter; ecstatic reveries and extensions of one's personality
on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected.
Almost anything Saint Theresa did, you can do better if you
can bear to be ravished by 'un évanouissement reveillé.'
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| The chapter in which Alice entertains Picasso, Matisse and Picabo |
Lately there has been a lot of buzz about Alice and Gertrude. The film Midnight in Paris features several scenes with Gertrude, and only one where you see a subservient Alice answering the door at their 27 Rue de Fleurus home. The film, although fiction, shows a lot of truths. It lets us know with whom Alice and Gertrude spent their time, it shows a very accurate recreation of their salon with its paintings by Matisse and Picasso, and it portrays a world of genius. Is there an equivalent today?
Much more important to the story, there is an exhibit of Gertrude and Leo Stein's (sister and brother) collected art currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City through June 3 - The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Sadly, I will not get to see it except through the eyes of my friends and family who have seen it. You can, too, by going to The Modern Trobadors website, in which Susan talks about her visit to the exhibit.
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| Sir Francis Rose's charming endpapers from the book. |
I highly recommend reading Alice's cookbook. It is much more than recipes. It is a peek into history - into an era of great interest as they describe their lives, their dinners, their guests and their vie quotidienne. It is filled with stories of their adventures during World War II, and has charming pen and ink illustrations by Sir Francis Rose.
The chocolate mousse recipe - called Very Good Chocolate Mousse - is a recipe from Madame Delteil, wife of author Joseph Delteil. It is certainly the simplest of mousse recipes I have made and is best when made with the highest-quality sweet chocolate. In my early days that meant Nestlé morsels, but now I use Belgian, Swiss or Italian chocolate (54% cacao). There are many more rich and complicated versions of chocolate mousse but there is a lightness and spongy quality to this that I like very much.
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| Sterling Tiffany zarfs with gold aurene Steuben inserts. My favorite consomme bowls! |
And I like that I am 'making history.'
~ David
Very Good Chocolate Mousse
1/2 pound sweet chocolate
6 eggs
3 tablespoons water
Grate the chocolate and melt in a frying pan with 3 tablespoons water over very low heat (I broke the chocolate into pieces and used a double boiler). Add the yolks of the eggs previously stirred and mix well. Remove from heat and add the whites of eggs beaten stiff. Put into the serving bowl and into the refrigerator overnight. Always liked. Rather sponge-like.
Madame Joseph Delteil
Grabels (France, just northwest of Montpellier)
Serves 6
David's Notes:
• For easy serving, I often divide the mousse into 6 goblets or bowls before chilling. Cover them to avoid them forming a skin.
• Don't use bittersweet chocolate - only the bitter comes through! A combination of milk and semi-sweet works well. One can also use German's Sweet Chocolate for perfectly good results.
•A dollop of whipped cream is always nice....
• When holiday time comes around again, I may try making the haschich fudge, hold the haschich! I am wondering if they are akin to 'sugar plums.'
Labels: Alice B. Toklas, Alice B. Toklas brownies, chocolate, chocolate mousse, Gertrude Stein, haschich fudge
