DRACULA AND LAMB
One day in early 1972 I found myself sitting over lunch at the Bucharest Inter Continental hotel with a couple of dark-suited Rumanian Ministry of Information officials (all Rumanian officials wore dark suits and worked in pairs in those days) discussing the possibility of travelling to Transylvania. It was the 60th anniversary of the death of Bram Stoker and I wanted to visit the area he had made legendary as the home of Count Dracula. These were still the heydays of Ceaucescu's communist fiasco, and the country was not easy to travel around -- especially if you had media connections.
The Inter Continental was the best place to eat in Bucharest in those days (one of its lamb recipes is given below) and I hoped that by entertaining these Rumanian government officials I would stand a chance of being allowed to explore the vampire trail.
Modern Transylvania sweeps southeast from the present-day Hungarian border to central Rumania and is a major industrial area, rich in minerals and natural gas -- a region that the ever-suspicious Rumanian government of the time was not keen on being visited by inquisitive Western journalists. To my surprise, my request was later granted – but that day I was only given a history lesson.
“This Dracula of yours never existed,” insisted the younger of the two ministry men, enthusiastically tucking into his lunch.
His colleague nodded his head silently in agreement. The younger man was obviously the senior of the two.
“Bram Stoker based his character on Vlad Dracul, a Rumanian folk hero,” he added, obviously not finding it necessary to mention that Vlad Dracul was better known to the world as Vlad the Impaler because of his nasty habit of nailing his enemies to the wall by their heads.
“Of course, Vlad Dracul was not a vampire,” he continued, “That was a Hungarian Countess. She was the real vampire. She kidnapped hundreds of young virgins, killed them and then bathed in their blood.”
At this point the second ministry man leaned over, put his hand on his colleague’s arm as if to restrain him, coughed gently, and said “Of course, you must understand, this was all in the days before Socialism.”
LAMB WITH TARRAGON
1 kg lean lamb fillet, diced
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 bunches of spring onions, chopped
3 sprigs of fresh tarragon
3 teaspoons of flour
1 cup of stock
salt
Braise the meat in a little oil, sprinkle with salt, then flour and mix well. Add the onions, both white and green parts, and the leaves of tarragon. Slowly add the stock, stirring. Simmer until meat is tender and sauce has reduced by about a third.
Serves 4
The Inter Continental was the best place to eat in Bucharest in those days (one of its lamb recipes is given below) and I hoped that by entertaining these Rumanian government officials I would stand a chance of being allowed to explore the vampire trail.
Modern Transylvania sweeps southeast from the present-day Hungarian border to central Rumania and is a major industrial area, rich in minerals and natural gas -- a region that the ever-suspicious Rumanian government of the time was not keen on being visited by inquisitive Western journalists. To my surprise, my request was later granted – but that day I was only given a history lesson.
“This Dracula of yours never existed,” insisted the younger of the two ministry men, enthusiastically tucking into his lunch.
His colleague nodded his head silently in agreement. The younger man was obviously the senior of the two.
“Bram Stoker based his character on Vlad Dracul, a Rumanian folk hero,” he added, obviously not finding it necessary to mention that Vlad Dracul was better known to the world as Vlad the Impaler because of his nasty habit of nailing his enemies to the wall by their heads.
“Of course, Vlad Dracul was not a vampire,” he continued, “That was a Hungarian Countess. She was the real vampire. She kidnapped hundreds of young virgins, killed them and then bathed in their blood.”
At this point the second ministry man leaned over, put his hand on his colleague’s arm as if to restrain him, coughed gently, and said “Of course, you must understand, this was all in the days before Socialism.”
LAMB WITH TARRAGON
1 kg lean lamb fillet, diced
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 bunches of spring onions, chopped
3 sprigs of fresh tarragon
3 teaspoons of flour
1 cup of stock
salt
Braise the meat in a little oil, sprinkle with salt, then flour and mix well. Add the onions, both white and green parts, and the leaves of tarragon. Slowly add the stock, stirring. Simmer until meat is tender and sauce has reduced by about a third.
Serves 4
posted by antwerpalan | 18:56
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