Cakes and ale, wild boar and beef. Food —arrayed on a table or merely dreamed of — figures repeatedly in the works of Shakespeare. And like a good cook who never overlooks anything in her larder, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is adding a culinary component to Shakespeare 400, the massive, city-wide observance of the playwright’s passing in 1616.
Launching this month, Culinary Complete Works pairs one chef with each of Shakespeare’s 38 plays. “The great part about this project is how animated each chef has been,” observes Shakespeare 400 producer, Doreen Sayegh. “The research, creativity, and enthusiasm we’re seeing around Culinary Complete Works is exciting and a perfect articulation of why these stories have lived with the world for 400 years and will continue to do so.“
Restaurateur and master sommelier, Aplana Singh, first heard of the project last fall, seated at an event with CST’s executive director, Criss Henderson and the company’s creative producer, Rick Boynton. “They talked about bringing a culinary component to Shakespeare 400 and I jokingly said, ‘Oh, like turkey legs at a Renaissance Faire?’ I was trying to envision how you pull Shakespeare into food. But when you really look at the plays, food is a natural tie-in.”
Singh took the lead, spreading the word in the restaurant community and seeking out chefs who felt strongly enough about Shakespeare to participate. “I was really surprised,” she laughs, “some chefs fought over certain works. John Manion of La Sirena Clandestina said yes right away and he really wanted Othello. Rick Bayliss had dibs on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This really shows how we’ve all been affected by Shakespeare one way or another.”
Tony Mantuano (Cafe Spiaggia) was drawn to Romeo and Juliet, Art Smith opted to plate King Lear, and Carrie Nahabedian (Naha) will portion out Measure for Measure. Ashlee Aubin of Salero is a fan of the history plays, and has pegged his dish to Richard II. “It has such great drama and surprise and I love the way Shakespeare reveals his characters’ motivations,” shares Aubin. The chef’s offering — truffled soft scrambled eggs, crown of potatoes, and roasted beets — serves “as an homage to the cost of the battle for the crown.”
Taking his cue from The Winter’s Tale, Chef Ryan McCaskey of Acadia has fashioned a plate composed of hiramasa, rancho gordo beans, smoked mayonnaise, lardo, and chilled English pea dashi. “The Winter’s Tale has psychological drama, comedy and a happy ending, so what inspired me were flavors that contrast, but with a finish that is pleasant. The smoked mayonnaise and beans, along with nice acid from some lemon zest, counterbalance the fatty lardo and creamy fish. Then, there’s the finish of crisp English pea, with flowers and pea tendrils.”
Singh and Tanya Baker, her executive chef at The Boarding House, have taken on The Taming of the Shrew. They’d hoped to comment on the show’s misogyny by serving capon, but the unsexed rooster, a Christmas tradition on many tables, isn’t readily available year round. “Shrew is set in Padua in the Veneto and that part of Italy is known for risotto, grana padano cheese, white and green asparagus, and also a particular type of hen called Padua hen,” relates Singh. “We couldn’t get that hen either, so we’re using poussin, basted in foie gras, which basically tames the flesh, making it more tender.” Bon appetit, Petruchio!
For more information on Culinary Complete Works, visit Shakespeare400Chicago.com.
Actor Daniel Breaker gets into the food game:
“Those are Kumamoto oysters, which come from the West Coast. They’re very briny and sweet with a little bit of a cucumber note. The sparkling rose gelée … I was just trying to make an elegant version of a Jell-O shot. The oyster sauce is red wine vinegar, shallots, salt, pepper and some citrus. [The green] is a sea bean, a tasty type of seaweed—very salty like a haricot vert.”
“That’s a raw shucked scallop and on top of that is—because I couldn’t afford caviar—those are actually balsamic pearls. The garlic chips are pieces of garlic that have been shaved thin and fried, and then cilantro stems because I didn’t want something as light as the leaves; I wanted something with a little more bite to it.
“It’s sea urchin bucatini [and] a while truffle and parsnip crumble.”
“The collar of the Hamachi fish, and under it are five different radishes and Asian pears with an anchovy vinaigrette—to bring the whole thing together. The seafood is brined. A quick little brine on any seafood takes away the last of the fishy impurity and polishes of the texture of the fish.”
“I still make a duck confit cassoulet, which is pork, beans and duck confit. This is the same idea, but just pulled a little more towards the Mediterranean.”
“That’s Cara Cara orange, which is a very soft, sweet orange—not heavy citrus. There’s Easter egg radish, and I made some chive oil.”
“I sliced a piece of pork belly. I crisped up the skin. I had some fava beans in the pantry. This plays really well together because the brandied cherries are so sweet. The fried Brussel sprouts are just sort of bitter and crispy and burnt, which brings the whole dish into a comfort foodie type meal.”
“I need a name for it. It is coconut cream, just the top of the can of coconut milk, rum that friend got me from Jamaica, allspice dram, which was another gift, lime, simple syrup, mole bitters and orange bitters. It’s surprisingly light and drinkable.”
“So much like beef carpaccio, but really good beets, thinly sliced, covered with pomegranate seeds [and] a little olive oil. That is a celebration of a Thomas Keller dish … so not my dish, but boy oy boy, a damn good dish.”
“I love gnocchi, and I wanted to figure out a way to make a sweet potato gnocchi. A lot of people that make sweet potato gnocchi, they put in regular potatoes to bring it together. I’m on the path to make a truly, strictly sweet potato gnocchi. Each bit is like, ‘That’s Thanksgiving.’”
“That thing’s in the over for hours, so that middle is nice and so rosy on the inside and a nice, sweet crust on the outside. That’s become a bit of a family tradition.”
