Legends are never quite true - prawns Cipriani

"Legends are material to be moulded, and not facts to be recorded." Hervey Allen

It's first recipe time - this book and a recipe called Prawns Cipriani. I thought it was going to be fairly straightforward - a recipe to look into and some stories about this particular book which is one of my all-time favourites.

Then I found that it was a known dish - not one that Beverley Sutherland Smith had made up - and then that there was an association with Guiseppe Cipriani and Venice - the legends part of the story - and to come later. And from there I became more and more confused really.

Being the first recipe of the book it is perhaps fitting that the dish should feature on the front cover - and that on its own is an example of the unreality of it all, because in my imagination the dish looked somewhat different. Of course I have never made it because of the prawn hater in this household, but otherwise I would have been very tempted. But it means that I have no idea what it would have looked like if I had cooked it.

The recipe, of course, is not online - it's Beverley Sutherland Smith after all - although there are other, shall I say for now, associated recipes online. I shall come back to them. As to Beverley's recipe it is pretty simple. You chop some skinned tomatoes (2 of them for 500g prawns) and combine with 1 tablespoon of chopped capers and the same of pickled cucumber, plus 45g butter. Flour the prawns and fry them in oil. When they are cooked, add the tomato mix, cook for one more minute, then serve with a green salad.

And I have to say that what I had pictured in my mind, looked more saucy, for lack of a better word. But I guess that's just a matter of how you plate them. More like this but without the pasta I guess. I'd say garlic prawns but there is no garlic in the recipe.

There is nothing substantial like pasta with Beverley's recipe because this is the first - and main dish of a two course Spring menu. The other dish is a Chocolate coconut torte.

The book, you see, is arranged in menus by seasons and she begins with Spring. There is also a section at the end of the book of extra dishes.

I have made so many things from this book because it is true to its title - A Taste in Time - there is never much time involved in making things in here. Her Pears in passionfruit sauce are divine for example. The book is sprinkled with debris from my cooking - spots of sauce from here and there I guess. Back in the day I did not write notes by recipes I cooked, and so I have no idea now which I have made and which I have not. I do know, however that there were many. It was a go to book for a time. Simple but elegant sort of sums it up. If you ever see it in an op shop grab it.

And it's also the last of my Beverley Sutherland Smith collection in my First recipe trawl through the my bookshelves. Also the last book on that shelf.

So back to the Cipriani thing. This is Guiseppe Cipriani outside his iconic Venetian bar - Harry's Bar. And we probably all know about that. It is a legend - like many of the legends who have spent time there.

Why Harry's Bar and who was Guiseppe Cipriani? Well Guiseppe Cipriani was born in Verona in 1900 but went to live in Germany as a child. I do not know when he returned to Italy, but by 1927 he was in Venice, where he began as a barman and waiter, and soon became well-known for his generosity, because in 1927 an American called Harry Pickering was left in the lurch by his aunt and her toyboy and so he asked for a loan from Guiseppe around $7,000 in today's terms - probably US dollars - so double that. In 1931 Pickering returned with the money plus a great deal more and Guiseppe used it to realise a dream of opening a bar, naming it Harry's Bar - some say requested by Harry, some say as a homage - just around the corner from St. Mark's Square. I think it was a homage, because he also named his son, who was born the year after, Harry.

I confess I always thought that Harry's Bar was in St. Mark's Square itself, but no - and from the outside a fairly modest looking place.

And here the legend began - legend in the sense of: 

"stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person" (Cambridge dictionary)

Stories of the people who frequented it - Ernest Hemingway being the star in this particular selection but also in the food - and the drinks - the Bellini and Beef Carpaccio being the most famous - both named for famous Venetian artists:

Guiseppe Cipriani did not stop there however. He also bought a small hotel on Venice's most distant island of Torcello and called it Locanda Cipriani. It is still there and still owned by the Cipriani family - in the form of a grandson with a different surname. I therefore assumed, without much thought, that this was the place that Beverley Sutherland Smith refers to when she says in her introduction to the recipe:

"One of the Cipriani Hotel's most famous dishes is Prawns Cipriani. It must be cooked and served at the last moment and would be an ideal dish to prepare at the table in front of guests."

Well Hotel is another word for Locanda isn't it?

And I hadn't really noticed that in her earlier paragraph about Cipriani's hotel she mentioned that the Hotel Cipriani was on the island of Guidecca - in Venice itself.

Across the water from Harry's Bar, set in formal gardens on the island of Guidecca is a hotel also created by Cipriani with an equally famous reputation and guest list. The Cipriano Hotel is luxurious and friendly. Its unique position provides seclusion for its guests yet it is only a few minutes ferry ride from to the Piazza San Marco." Beverley Sutherland Smith

Different place, now owned by a hotel chain - and yes - very luxurious. George Clooney was married there - a more modern legend. I suspect that the Cipriani legend has grown so much that it is now also attached to hotels around the world. But yes it was once owned by Guiseppe.

I have now searched in various ways for Prawns Cipriani in relation to both of those hotels, but have not found a recipe anywhere. Maybe it used to be made in the grand hotel - and Beverley had it there - and maybe it has since been taken off the menu. And alas Beverley's name is not legendary enough to make her recipe legendary too - however, appetising it might be.

I did however, find Curry prawns (Cipriani's way) on a website called Food Me Tender. It's obviously not the same recipe but the Cipriani name is attached - but not Guiseppe, because she/he says:

"Modifying Arrigo Cipriani’s sacred recipe book is a behavior that has something blasphemous about it."

Who is Arrigo? Well Arrigo is Italian for Harry - so he is the son named for Harry Pickering and heir to it all - now some 25 restaurants around the world I saw elsewhere.

There's also a dish called Prawns alla carlina which seems to be a Cipriani dish and also, perhaps a demonstration of the combination of two legends - Prawn carpaccio - also a speciality of the Cipriani restaurants.

"Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts." says Salman Rushdie and although I don't think I quite understand what he means, nevertheless I think it might be applicable to the whole Cipriani universe.

So Prawns Cipriani seem to have disappeared into the mists of the Venice lagoon, even though Beverley wrote it down. Or did she invent it?

When we were in Venice for our very, very brief stay we did not even look for Harry's Bar, because we knew that, as a tourist destination, it would be ridiculously expensive. A big no no for David - a smaller one for me - although every now and then I think that you are not really paying over the top for a Bellini - you are paying for the glory of the legend and the stories that you can tell about your experience. Even if it was a bad one. The experience is what you are paying for. It's up to you to decide whether you can look beyond the money (if you can afford it of course) to a memorable occasion in your life.

But then:

"Legends are all to do with the past and nothing to do with the present." Lauren Bacall

YEARS GONE BY

January 25

2025 - What happened to smoked mackerel?

2024 - Overipe brie

2023 - French/Indian - did it happen?

2022 - Japanese (Sansai udon) from Madhur Jaffrey

2021 - Missing

2020 - A little bit of red wine

2019 - Nothing

2018 - Nothing

2017 - Necessity is the mother of invention