On top of all the other chops and changes that seemed to have happened all at once this week, we've spent today hanging the new Spring / Summer exhibition of work from local artists...... and there's a small taster here of what's on show until September.
Rosie Evans' and her family have been customers at Smiths for ages but we've only just been introduced to her artwork - and her large, vibrant, seascapes and landscapes look amazing on the walls. Have a look at this compilation..... .....imagine them full size and you'll see what we mean. And talking about eating and drinking, Martin O'Neill's new exhibition is all about just that.
" Photography. It's food and drink to me " is a collection of black and white photographs on the subject of - you've got it - food and drink ! Lots of the photographs were taken locally ......... and most of them were almost lost to posterity !
A year or so ago, Martin found hundreds of negatives that he'd taken in the 80s and late 70s while he was training / working as a photojournalist. He went through the lost collection and, earlier in the year, mounted an exhibition of Salford in the 70s / 80s at Eccles Community Art Gallery. Smiths has always been closely involved with the gallery and we took the opportunity to ask Martin to exhibit with us. As well as the food drink photographs, Martin has added two bonus prints. Two iconic images of Morrisey performing.
Smiths ...... The Smiths ..... geddit ??
And finally, we're thrilled to be able to exhibit some of Anthony McCarthy's beautiful, fine ink drawings of Salford and Manchester. Anthony has exhibited at the Lowry and in several venues in Manchester, John Rylands Library, The Cube and Central Library amongst them. The buildings and architecture in his works tower over the people giving us an amazing view of our two great cities. ( and our two great football teams - we've drawings of both The Etihad and Old Trafford on display at Smiths !! )So don't miss the chance to come into Smiths for a meal and see the artwork on display while you eat and drink. You know you want to ....... !!
Dear Elaine,
ReplyDeleteYou posed me quite a problem with your Goldsmith quote, but I found a website that actually helps with queries like this - Smiths' customers may find it of interest, and I append it as received, the web address appears at the end:
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "taffety cream" is a dish of cream and eggs. The taffety connection means "Florid, bombastic; over-dressed; dainty, delicate, fastidious. Examples of early print use: 1719: "D'Urfey Pills VI. 124 'With Taffity Tarts and Pies. 1723 J. Nott Cooks & Confectioners Dictionary Li "Taffaty Cream. Beat the Whites of eight Eggs...with Rose-water...put it into a Quart of Cream. 1883. Goldsmith, Stoops to Conquer II i, "A shaking pudding and a dish of tiff-taff-taffety cream."
According the Oxford English Dictionary, the word tafia has a culinary application:
"Tafia. Also taffia, taffey...' a spirit distilled from molasses'. This word appears therefor to be widely diffused in east and west. ..A uru-like spirituous liquor obtained from the lower grades of molasses, refuse brown sugar, etc.
Which leads us to Ratafia...
"Ratafia, a word whos three meanings are explained below. The origin is obscure. According to Favre (1883-92), teh word is derived from the Latin phrase Res rata fiat, which was pronounced when a treaty or other such instrument was ratified. Since the custom was to accompany the ratification by drinking a good liqueur, the phrase, abbreviated, became a name for such a liqueur. If this ist eh origin of the name, it would explain why there is doubt about whether the name applies to all liqueurs or only some and, if only some, which. (It is usually understood to apply to liqueur made from brandy and any fruit juice, especially those made by a process of maceration; but some authorities regard a flavouring of bitter almonds as necessary.) The three meanings of ratafia are:
1. Ratafia, a drink popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, probably of French origin. It was a cordial or a brandy-based liqueur flavored with almonds, peach, cherry, or apricot kernels, or soft fruits; similar to Noyau, a word which came into use in the late 18th century and largely supplanted ratafia.
2. Ratafia, an 18th- and 19th-century variation on the Macaroon, flavored with bitter almonds...or sometimes with apricot kernels. These seen tio have been first made in England in the early 18th century to recipes very similar to macaroons, and used similarly; ratafia biscuits my have acquired the name because they were eaten with the drink ratafia, so because of the use of bitter almonds as flavouring in both items. Very small almond biscuits are still manufactured under the name of 'ratafias'.
3. The word is also used to describe a bitter almond flavour; for instance, 'essence of ratafia'...or 'ratafea cream' (a desert flavoured with apricot kernels)..."
---Oxford Companion to Food, 1999
"Ratafia. As used by Hannah Glasse, 111, the word indicates the flavour of almonds. its meaning can be more generally embracing the flavours imparted by the kernels fo peaches, apricots and cherries. The cordial or liqueur called ratafia may be flavoured with any of these. Ratafia cakes and biscuits may be similarly flavoured; or they may be so called because they are intended to be eaten with the liqueur."
---The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, Hannah Glasse, facsimile 1747 edition
"To make Ratafia Cream.
Take six large Laurel-leaves, and boil them in a Quart of thick Cream, when it is boil'd thro away the Leaves, and beat the Yolks of five Eggs with a little cold Cream, and Sugar to your Taste, then thicken the Cream with your Eggs, and set it over the Fire again, but don't let it boil, keep it stirring all the while one Way, and pour into China Dishes; when it is cold its fit for Use."
---The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, Hannah Glasse, facsimile 1747
www.foodtimeline.org
David ! You are a wonder !!
DeleteHave bookmarked the web address for further browsing ......