Sophie Blackall Illustration

Drawings and Snippets and Breaking News, (but more snippets than breaking news).

Friday, November 15, 2013

A Fine Dessert - Part 6, A Completely Justifiable Research Trip to England


Not that I really need to justify a trip to England, but I really, truly had things to do there that couldn't be done on the internet, like visiting the archives of the London Zoo (for another book, more on that to come) and to do an Ivy and Bean Day event at the wonderful bookshop, Ottie and the Bea in South East London. But while I was there, visiting family in Somerset, A Fine Dessert was never far from my mind. Call me obsessed; you wouldn't be the first.
My cousin and his wife live in a ridiculously picturesque hamlet in Somerset. I'm not going to tell you what it's called because you'll all want to go there and the hamlet dwellers would be mad.
They live next door to this excellent pig called Blossom...
And down the lane from this fairytale Medieval roundhouse built by their friend the local thatcher...
...who also makes cider.
 It was harvest time at the local cider mill...
 ...which was momentarily distracting...
...but I was looking for blackberries.
The lanes were dripping with them...
 
...and just dripping, generally.
 But in the evenings they turned golden.
The blackberries were smaller and firmer than their American counterparts (I draw no cultural observations here)...
...and the fool we made came out a deep purple, almost tarmac color. But was equally delicious.
There were more thatched farmhouses than you could poke a stick at.


 And we visited Montacute which has a wobbly hedge...
And through the wobbly hedge, is an ice house.




 In A Fine Dessert, in 1710 the farmer's wife and her daughter made the blackberry fool, then Emily Jenkins writes, "They carried the mixture to an ice pit in the hillside. It chilled near sheets of winter ice, packed with reeds and straw." I have been reading everything I can find about ice pits and ice houses and the making of iced desserts in the 18th century. This ice house was constructed in a similar way to a stone well. I couldn't quite imagine where the dish of blackberry fool would be placed to chill. I'm wondering whether perhaps they would have transported small chunks of the ice back to the kitchen instead. Emily suggested I write to Lynne Olver, the expert food historian at the Food Timeline, and I'm holding my breath for her response. In the meantime I drew a sketch of them carrying the mixture to the icepit in the hill, because it would make a nice image, and a perfect excuse to paint the English sky. But we'll see what Ms Olver says.
 ps The one tree hill I used in the drawing is part of the cider mill. Click below to visit their website.
http://www.ciderbrandy.co.uk/gallery.html







4 comments:

June said...

Oh! You have been in England... I am close to Somerset, in Bristol :)

Amazing that you still managed to find blackberries as it has been damp enough to rot any remaining berries, and the birds have eaten all from around here.
An old saying goes to not pick them once there is 'er' in the month name.(That is, the best ones are supposed to be in July/August time. But this year they were a little late.)
I'm glad your visit went well :)

M. said...

Oooh! Can we trade lives? Just for a little while... please! ;-))

Anonymous said...

I saw the picture that you have in your blog,the one with every different kind of people in the subway,in fact i saw it in the New York subway,and i got crazy about it,so i told my dad that i want it,and he was like "oh i saw it central station,maybe i bought it for you". The last day in New York i made my dad went to central station while my family,my friends and i were doing suitcases. He bought it for me and i bring it to my country and puted in my bedroom. I love it,and everyone who sees it love it too. I really like your work :). Madeleine Useche from Venezuela.

Mirjam said...

Your work is wonderful, Sophie. I just found your blog and enjoyed your posts showing the making of "A Fine Dessert". Today is my first work day in 2014 and getting started is somewhat difficult. So I allow myself to just take it easy. Your drawings and the awesome idea to share the process inspired me. Getting started will now be easier. Thank you. Wishing you fun and happiness in your art. I look forward to accompany you further. All the best from Mirjam, Germany