I was overjoyed when Geoff Currier brought me a little gift to the office a few weeks ago. He said his wife Joyce thought it was perfect for me, since I like to write and I like to cook. It was a book titled “The Great American Writers’ Cookbook,” published in 1981. I was in college listening to Steely Dan sing “Hey Nineteen” and finishing Tom Robbins’ “Still Life with Woodpecker” back then. I should probably stop there.
Anyway, I immediately looked in the table of contents to find my favorite writers. I was happy to find them right about where I thought they’d be.
The first recipe I found was submitted by Scottie Fitzgerald on behalf of her father, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have a photo in one of the boxes in my closet of me kneeling next to his headstone at the Rockville, Md., cemetery where he and Zelda are buried, along with Scottie. I’m wearing black. I read someplace that Zelda’s buried on top of Scott because when they died, they could only afford one plot. His recipe is most apropos: Bloody Bull. This is one of those recipes that could feed a small army, but only if the army is looking for libations or something to cure a hangover.
The best part is what Scottie wrote about the recipe: “My father and Hemingway were alleged to have invented the Bloody Bull while arguing about a Faulkner novel in the Ritz Bar after Hemingway’s return from Pamplona. My father thought that Mr. Faulkner was one of the greatest writers who ever lived, and it would have been quite characteristic of him to have defended this position while horizontal, if necessary.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Bloody Bull
1 large can of V8 juice
2 cans bouillon (which must mean two small cans of beef broth — I used one because two seems a bit much)
Juice of 4 lemons
Lemon pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco
Celery salt
Stalk of celery (optional)
Mix all these, stir vigorously, add vodka, and pour over cracked ice. The celery stalk is not necessary, but adds a touch of elegance.
