Thursday 24 February 2011

Springtime is nearly here...

The snowbells are brightening the dullest of grass-strewn pavements and the daffodils are waiting to flower. I love this time of year. I have started to use my bicycle again after the harsh winter. I find it a wonderful way to pick up fresh vegetables from the Covered Market in my basket, and I also love the fresh air as it gives me new ideas for poems. I spent the weekend away from my student house in Bath, to go back to my hometown in Oxford. I love exploring the city centre and taking pictures. I hope you like this picture of the Radcliffe Camera, part of the Bodleian Library. The sunlight was beautiful that day.

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Ideas about Connections...

I have recently been thinking what would interest readers about the connection between Food and Poetry. I began to look deeply into the structure of how a recipe and a poem can talk to each other. It's interesting to think of each ingredient to be like each line of a poem. Each ingredient is just as important as the next and if you don't include it, there is a chance that the recipe, and therefore the overall dish, may falter. It's exactly the same as a poem; if you don't secure the exact words in correct order in the exact line then the poem will struggle to be concise and therefore the poetry you write will suffer. This sounds very broad thinking, but it has made me understand how intricate the art of poetry is. It has made me realise that each word and each beat in music of poem, must be in tune with the rest; each line must sing to every other line. I've been told this by many of my poetry tutors but I have never truly understood what they meant. I love discovering new connections with poetry, and especially if food has helped me discover it.

I have perfected my Mum's Stew, dauphonoise potatoes, hollandaise sauce, a poached egg and many more since I started to cook at twelve. Now, I can see how each of these recipes can represent the form of a poem and how long it takes to perfect, and what it needs is practise, practise, and more practise.

***

Tuesday 15 February 2011

March Food Poetry Competition!

Welcome to another month of the competition!  There has been a new addition and you can now recieve cash rewards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! See below for all the information you need:




The Cuisine of Poetry presents:


The NEW March Food Poetry Competition!

Prizes: 1st: £20
              2nd: £10
             3rd: £5

March’s entry requirements:
  • 40 lines max
  • Theme: ‘Food and the Senses’.
  • Maximum of 4 poems.
  • Entry Fee: FREE!
  • Send to: zara.preston@bathspa.org
  • PLEASE SEND YOUR ADDRESS IN THE EMAIL SO IF REWARDS ARE WON, THEY CAN BE SENT. THANK YOU.

CLOSING DATE: 5th March 2011.
BLOG PUBLISHING DATE: 10th March 2011

Thursday 10 February 2011

The Winners of February's Food Poetry Competition!

Congratulations to Kate Silvester, Tom Stone (twice monthly winner!) and an anonymous entry. Please read the following and enjoy!

February's Theme: Vegetables


Italy

Sliced beefsteak tomatoes
on a bed of crisp spinach.
A sprinkle of fresh basil
and a dribble of extra virgin olive oil.
Add generous slabs of buffalo mozzarella
and a sheen of balsamic vinegar.

A thin, crisp dough base
covered in freshly beaten tomatoes.
Crushed garlic cloves, just picked oregano.
Slices of local goats cheese melt
accompanied by a helping of aged prosciutto.
Add rocket tossed in olive oil once cooked
for a tingle on your taste buds.

Linguine pasta, freshly made,
bubbling for five minutes.
Add some salt and pepper,
some crushed tomatoes.
Introduce clams, prawns, tuna
and lashings of garlic.
Flavours exploding; your perfect pasta dish.

Kate Silvester


THE VEGETABLE

Sharpened Carrots
Frozen Peas
All my favourite
Edible weapons
Clara won’t
Eat her vegetables
So now she must die
Before she gets fat
She'll be picked on at school
I can't let that happen
So I'm going to kill her
Frozen peas to the forehead
Should do it
Oh dear
I’ve dropped one of
the carrots
It’s sticking out of my knee
Along with
Lots of blood
Ouch
I can’t walk
Oh the irony
For now I am
The vegetable

Tom Stone



The Onion

I usually halve it,
cut it through the root
and roughly chop:

It could get tossed in a salad,
fried with bangers and mash
or thrown in a cheese roll –

but when I cook for you,
I take my time;
I leave the root whole
and slice slowly,
each piece exactly even,
then add to a stew
and leave it to simmer.

Anon




Please look out for March's Competition with the new Monthly theme.