The third book in the Gerald Samper series finds our hero holing up at his friend’s home in Suffolk after his house in Italy falls over a cliff.
Gerald is beginning to get a little bored and not looking forward to the forthcoming party to be given by his host, the composer, Max Christ. Gerald’s contribution to the feast is the starter. Here he is preparing the Field Mouse Vol-au-Vents.
For some days I set traps in the extensive stables and outhouses that surround the Hall, and these yielded ten- no, eleven on a recount- plump specimens…The worst job was skinning and boning them: there’s nothing more fiddly. For discretion’s sake I did it in my bathroom up in the attic…The skins and entrails had to go down the lavatory…One can cook the meat very gently with a little butter for a bare minute or two, add the merest dribble of mouse broth and use this delicate hash as a vol-au-vent filling.
This does not work out well. The guests are almost all (except Gerald who did not get a chance to eat one of his delicacies) violently ill and an ambulance has to be called.
Gerald has to make a quick exit back to Tuscany where he discovers the site of his house has now become a place of pilgrimage after a rumoured apparition of the recently deceased Princess Diana.
What else could he do but join forces with his former enemy Marta to write the libretto for a life of Princess Di. A glimpse below.
…Diana’s tragicomic number on learning of her friend Gianni Versace’s death not long before her own. It begins:
Today’s glitterati
Are tomorrow’s obliterati…
and if you think you catch a whiff of banality there you must remember that the very essence of opera (not to mention musicals) is cod philosophy and stock human emotion.
You’ll have to read the book to see how things play out, and if you haven’t read the other books in this series Cooking with Fernet Branca and Amazing Disgrace, do yourself a favour and locate them forthwith.
That’s if you enjoy wonderfully funny and well written books that satirise the world of music, cuisine and life in general.
Gert Loveday's Fun with Books 
Sounds over-the-top ridiculous and therefor essential reading. And the title alone….
He is a very funny fellow and I think his recipes will appeal to you. After all road kill is such a waste
Thanks to you I have launched myself into Samperland. Holy vindaloo blancmange.
I’m surprised he didn’t add a little garlic to the butter. Garlic makes everything taste better.
Leslie
A good point Leslie. He is usually very fond of garlic. I don’t know why he didn’t include it in this recipe.
And perhaps a dash of white wine.
Oh now you’re talking!
He also likes to add Fernet Branca, as referred to in the title of his first book.
Thanks for the reminder about these books, Gert. I remember seeing Cooking with Fernet Branca when it came out several years ago – it sounds delightful with just the right amount of bite, so to speak!
Great fun. I think you would enjoy his writing, Jacqui.
To sustain the impetus of the premise ‘How far can I push this without it becoming totally unfeasible?’ requires a steady hand and a sure instinct. This author seems to have it.
The character of Gerald Samper is quite outrageous, but sort of believable.