[Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

Fri Apr 14 09:24:49 EDT 2023

Great letter, Stephen! I am sorry they didn’t publish it. 

And, by the way, just in case you need a drink after this, you may want to try this recipe listed on Lithub (there’s one for Zora Neal Hurston as well):

The Virginia Woolf <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://lithub.com/cocktails-in-honor-of-two-literary-greats-virginia-woolf-and-zora-neale-hurston/__;!!KGKeukY!zS7rJ8RyUbYvEw6tBca-BQqkfTzJQFikx32vclf8akQSgN-uO9qFaEPPpkKI0Fw4UowuX6z73Y2gA5QqKYqEDTm8MmKFVU07oTFJNw$ > 

2 shots oaked amber rum
¾ shot peach syrup*
¾ shot fresh lemon juice

Garnish: mint

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain through a fine strainer into a Nick and Nora glass. Gently press mint with fingers to release oils, and garnish.

*Peach Syrup:

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, simmer 2 small peaches (sliced into small pieces) and basic simple syrup for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and strain.

From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces+danelljones=bresnan.net at lists.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Stephen Barkway via Vwoolf
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2023 2:32 AM
To: peteradkins349 at gmail.com; 'VWOOLF listserv' <vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

This is the email I sent to the TLS on 12 Jan 2023, but they didn’t publish it: In his letter regarding the contrasting meals Virginia Woolf describes in A Room of One’s Own, Martin Dodsworth considers her to have been ‘purely rhetorical’ (Letters, 

This is the email I sent to the TLS on 12 Jan 2023, but they didn’t publish it:

In his letter regarding the contrasting  meals Virginia Woolf describes in A Room of One’s Own, Martin Dodsworth considers her to have been ‘purely rhetorical’ (Letters, January 13). E E Duncan-Jones’s recollection of Woolf’s lateness, that he refers to, was collected by Ann Phillips in her A Newnham Anthology (Newnham College, 1979; repr. 1988). Duncan-Jones also recognised Woolf’s use of hyperbole to underscore an argument admitting that her ‘purpose was, of course, to evoke pity for the poverty of the women’s colleges’. However, I feel Mr Dodsworth is wide of the mark when he goes on to suggest that Woolf probably ‘wasn’t very interested’ in good food. In the 1930’s she dined at Marcel Boulestin’s famous restaurant in Covent Garden, enjoying such dishes as his sole with mushroom sauce so much that she sent her cook, Mabel Haskins, to him to take lessons. Mabel ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ the lessons and Woolf was pleased to be ‘reaping the benefits’.

Stephen

From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> > On Behalf Of Peter Adkins via Vwoolf
Sent: 14 April 2023 09:25
To: 'VWOOLF listserv' <vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

I’ve just checked David Bradshaw and Stuart N. Clarke’s Shakespeare Head Press edition of AROO and they quote from Elsie Duncan-Jones complaining that VW was an ‘hour late’ to dinner and that dinner ‘in Clough Hall, never a repast for gourmets, 

I’ve just checked David Bradshaw and Stuart N. Clarke’s Shakespeare Head Press edition of AROO and they quote from Elsie Duncan-Jones complaining that VW was an ‘hour late’ to dinner and that dinner ‘in Clough Hall, never a repast for gourmets, suffered considerably’. I am fascinated by the idea that there was a meal prepared for her that she missed (intentionally?!) and yet the College catering becomes such a memorable part of AROO (at least for me).  

I love how this email thread has become such a robust response to the (irritatingly) persistent idea of an ‘ethereal, frail’ Virginia as Marie-Claire puts it so well. It’s a shame that I didn’t spot the letter sooner, otherwise I feel that a response to the letter would be well warranted!

Peter

From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> > On Behalf Of Marie Claire Boisset via Vwoolf
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:43 PM
To: danelljones at bresnan.net <mailto:danelljones at bresnan.net> 
Cc: VWOOLF listserv <vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

Thank you for saying that. A reply with a brief "Me too!" is not possible, though (ahah again ;)) but yes, I have enjoyed this too. Pity no time to write, talk & meet further. Once upon a time I had made a micro point (w/o pins 

Thank you for saying that. A reply with a brief "Me too!" is not possible, though (ahah again ;)) but yes, I have enjoyed this too. Pity no time to write, talk & meet further.

Once upon a time I had made a micro point (w/o pins or needles!) about the "haddock and sausage" phrase in the penultimate pages of D (Feb. 7, 1941) too, actually.

Thereby agreeing with Alice, apparently.

"Haddock and sausage meat. I think it is true that one gains a certain hold on haddock and sausage meat by writing them down. (...) 

Oh Dear yes, I shall conquer this mood. (...)  Now to cook haddock."

So much for an ethereal, frail Virginia. Not so fragile. One who loved pâtés, mushroom hunting & picking on the Downs and home-made omelettes, 

& protein-packed sustenance. 

Bon appétit - or happy reading! 

Back to my translation now.

Thank you! :-)

mc

Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie 
Translations

Address  Brive-La-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. 

Phone   <tel:+33%20(0)5%2055%2088%2029%2061> +33 (0)5 55 88 29 61 

Mobile    <tel:+33%20(0)6%2038%2083%2073%2021> +33 (0)6 38 83 73 21 

Email   <mailto:mc at clarior.net> MC at Clarior.net 

IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof. 

Please consider your environmental responsibility. Before printing this e-mail message, ask yourself whether you really need a hard copy.

On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 10:17 PM < <mailto:danelljones at bresnan.net> danelljones at bresnan.net> wrote:

Just have to say how much I have enjoyed this conversation. 

From: Vwoolf < <mailto:vwoolf-bounces at ls.osu.edu> vwoolf-bounces at ls.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Marie Claire Boisset via Vwoolf
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 1:24 PM
To:  <mailto:mhussey at verizon.net> mhussey at verizon.net
Cc: VWOOLF listserv < <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu> vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

Spot on! Aha haha! -D Thank you for making me smile! ;-) :-) Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie Translations Address Brive-La-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Phone +33 (0)5 55 88 29 61 Mobile +33 (0)6 38 83 73 21 Email MC@ Clarior. net IMPORTANT:  

Spot on! Aha haha! -D  Thank you for making me smile! ;-) :-) 

Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie 
Translations

Address  Brive-La-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. 

Phone   <tel:+33%20(0)5%2055%2088%2029%2061> +33 (0)5 55 88 29 61 

Mobile    <tel:+33%20(0)6%2038%2083%2073%2021> +33 (0)6 38 83 73 21 

Email   <mailto:mc at clarior.net> MC at Clarior.net 

IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof. 

Please consider your environmental responsibility. Before printing this e-mail message, ask yourself whether you really need a hard copy.

On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 8:24 PM < <mailto:mhussey at verizon.net> mhussey at verizon.net> wrote:

Marie-Claire’s ref to Leonard reminded me that he was gently mocked by Clive Bell and Raymond Mortimer in an exchange in the NS&N about the relative merits of English hotel food vs. French …  Clive wrote:

“On my French tours never have I had a companion, no matter how patriotic or ascetic, who did not look forward with unconcealed, indeed with loudly expressed, pleasure to lunch. I have never known, nor ever heard of, anyone, except Mr. Woolf, who looked forward to lunch in an English inn.”

From: Marie Claire Boisset < <mailto:mc at clarior.net> mc at clarior.net> 
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 1:46 PM
To: Alice Lowe < <mailto:alicelowe88 at gmail.com> alicelowe88 at gmail.com>
Cc:  <mailto:mhussey at verizon.net> mhussey at verizon.net; VWOOLF listserv < <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu> vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

Alice:

I'll have to read this piece too. One of my favorites on this topic is "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." (ROO).

Remember noticing that when the Wolves visited our area in Corrèze (Brive (!), Uzerche, etc., in SW France (now "Nouvelle Aquitaine") in the 30s - noted in D somewhere), she argued with Leonard on the quality of the pâté

in comparison with the pub's at Rodmell. If I remember correctly she preferred our local specialty recipe (I won't say anything about foie gras, etc. - shhht!), whilst L defended Rodmell pub's.

Of course she was absolutely right and Leonard totally wrong, aha aha!  🐒

Hope you enjoyed a good Easter - Happy Spring to all of you 😎

Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie 
Translations

Address  Brive-La-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. 

Phone   <tel:+33%20(0)5%2055%2088%2029%2061> +33 (0)5 55 88 29 61 

Mobile    <tel:+33%20(0)6%2038%2083%2073%2021> +33 (0)6 38 83 73 21 

Email   <mailto:mc at clarior.net> MC at Clarior.net 

IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof. 

Please consider your environmental responsibility. Before printing this e-mail message, ask yourself whether you really need a hard copy.

On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 7:17 PM Alice Lowe via Vwoolf < <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

My paper at the 2010 conference, published in the selected works from that year, was "A Certain Hold on Haddock and Sausage: Dining Well in Virginia Woolf's Life and Work. " From numerous passages in her letters and diaries as 

My paper at the 2010 conference, published in the selected works from that year, was "A Certain Hold on Haddock and Sausage: Dining Well in Virginia Woolf's Life and Work." From numerous passages in her letters and diaries as well as her novels, there is little doubt she relished & appreciated good food. Traveling in France with Vita, she describes the food in several letters to Leonard as well as in her diary. Read about: "the vastest most delicious meal I have ever eaten..." (L3:534) and "a first rate dinner thought out and presided over by a graceful young chef..." (D4:317).  

On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 7:51 AM Mark Hussey via Vwoolf < <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

Epic snark! From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces@ lists. osu. edu> On Behalf Of Peter Adkins via Vwoolf Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 9: 06 AM To: VWOOLF listserv <vwoolf@ lists. service. ohio-state. edu> Subject: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide 

Epic snark!

From: Vwoolf < <mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Peter Adkins via Vwoolf
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:06 AM
To: VWOOLF listserv < <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu> vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: [Vwoolf] Woolf’s good food guide

Making my way through my backlog of TLS issues, I thought the following letter from the January 13 2023 edition might be of interest to Woolfians on the list (and apologies if it has already been shared!): Woolf’s good food guide Reviewing 

Making my way through my backlog of TLS issues, I thought the following letter from the January 13 2023 edition might be of interest to Woolfians on the list (and apologies if it has already been shared!):

Woolf’s good food guide
Reviewing Diane Purkiss’s book on English food (December 23 & 30), Ysenda Maxtone Graham mentions the familiar passage in A Room of One’s Own contrasting the food served in a men’s college at Cambridge (King’s) and one for women (Newnham). It should be regarded as purely rhetorical, alas. The “counterpane of the whitest cream” over the men’s sole may or may not have tasted good, depending on how much flour there was in it; the meal at Newnham would certainly have tasted better (and there is nothing wrong with “beef with its attendant greens and potatoes”) had Virginia Woolf arrived on time for it. Katherine Duncan-Jones, whose mother, Elsie, arranged the meal specially for Woolf at Newnham, told me that she was in fact extravagantly late (having been fascinated by the men’s conversation, perhaps) and the carefully prepared meal was consequently ruined. In any case there is reason to doubt Woolf’s ability to recognize good food. The fuss about Mrs Ramsay’s daube in To the Lighthouse is hardly reassuring, and it is noticeable that in writing of Nelly Boxall, her own cook, Woolf hardly ever in her diaries mentions what comes to table. It’s probable that she wasn’t very interested.

Martin Dodsworth
Brill, Buckinghamshire

Dr Peter Adkins 

(He/Him/His)

Website:  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/peteradkins.net/__;!!KGKeukY!y90iaaNKkjJJu-5FDIgTdFTDNlGdyvXDS5e-HvDpl-DeknqCFBtFkmyjmW3ygN0wKb9Ju6DsO138hEAzXZgjVzkkCYsyFgAvHb7X-l-b$> peteradkins.net

Twitter: @peteradkins17

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Alice Lowe

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