Artists are often excellent cooks. It’s in their daring. We all have a friend who indiscriminately throws spices into the pot at the last minute, who mixes and matches the contents of the fridge, who takes risks we sometimes wouldn't. When it works - which isn't always - it can really work. I’ve been flipping through Monet’s Table, a cookbook compiled from fragments of the painter’s cooking journals, and reveling in the artist's playful quality. Though Monet ran his household very traditionally (think many housekeepers), he was after something different when he made art. And when he cooked: along with the usual constellation of rich and laborious sauces - the classic French repertoire - he played with peasant bread soup and roasted bananas. (Remember that in 1914, bananas were a novelty.) The whole thing’s a delight.
Without further ado, two very different Monet recipes:
