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Posts Tagged ‘Sue Ann Nivens’

"Baked Pears Alicia"

It is not often that pears are shrouded in mystery. This past weekend the question, “Did you get the pears?” caused a stir that landed on the many Monday morning message boards that dissect the latest episode of “Mad Men.” (Many viewers could not hear the answer, which was, “We’ll talk about it inside.” But that’s a whooooole other blog.)

One of the first things I wrote about on this blog was my fascination with food used as a prop in movies, TV, and on stage. I have always thought that it was a personal obsession. Most people get lost in the story; I get lost in the food. I can’t slice garlic without thinking of Clemenza’s spaghetti-cooking scene in “The Godfather.”

The Google search that has brought more people to this blog than any other was for a little item named “Baked Pears Alicia,” a dessert served in “The Dinner Party”, a particularly funny episode of the classic sitcom, Mary Tyler Moore. Turns out plenty of people would like to know what “Baked Pears Alicia” was. But the pears have been shrouded in mystery. I had always assumed that the writers just thumbed through the same cook book to find the whole menu. Ah well, wrong again.

Last year when I wrote about the pears I didn’t delve too much into the mystery. The blog wasn’t about the pears, it was about food on screen. But as the year has gone by I have searched high and low and checked cookbooks old and new and come up empty.

A real reporter would have dug deeper, perhaps tried to contact the writers, or at least checked the Library of Congress. Alas, I have done none of the above. You see, I had an ulterior motive: I was hoping all along that there was no such thing as “Baked Pears Alicia”, that the writers made it up because it sounded funny. Why would I hope this? Because I wanted to make my own recipe.

I got my wish.

I have never worked as a food stylist.  The new film, “Eat Pray Love” was styled by Susan Spungen who, as I mentioned last year, also styled the film “Julie and Julia”. She is very skilled and experienced — in fact she’s a Martha Stewart veteran. I don’t know if I have what it takes to do that job; so much of it is just visual. I think I’d get hung up on getting into the character’s “head” (as it were.)

Surely the prop pears we fleetingly see Mary passing around the room were just plain ol’ baked pears. But my head goes right to the question, “What would Sue Ann Nivens do with a pear?” (And by all means go for the double entendre here: she would.)

So, not unlike the way an actor finds a fictional character, I found “Baked Pears Alicia.” I started from the outside and worked in. I knew four things that would inform my final result: 1) How they looked, 2) That they smelled good, 3) Sue Ann Nivens, host of “The Happy Homemaker” on WJM-TV made them, 4) They were pears. (I also knew that the main course in that episode, “Veal Prince Orloff” was straight out of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”)

Appearance: they looked simple and unadorned, save for some liquid I thought I could spy in the bottom of the dish. This told me that they gave off a lot of liquid, and that whatever culinary magic Sue Ann wove must have been in the cooking medium.

Smell: I think Sue Ann would have used more than just cinnamon, so I added something that was indulgent, fragrant, and would suit the period: a whole vanilla bean, seeds and pod, plus a good dash of fresh ginger, and a whisper of cardamom. I think these would have been in Sue Ann’s somewhat classical, mid-century culinary vocabulary.

The main and most important ingredient – after the pears, of course – is a really delicious dessert wine. Cost-wise you could really go crazy here, but I stuck with a slightly sane Argentinean Torrontes whose mellow sweetness could easily be mistaken for a Moscado. (For the record, yes, it was redolent of pears. Said so right on the label.)

Keeping in mind that the game here was baked, not poached, pears, I used the spiced liquid (which truly wasn’t far from mulled wine) as a marinade before baking the pears, letting them absorb the flavors of the spices and the wine.

After baking the pears I sprinkled them lightly with a bit of Demerara sugar for sparkle, and some crushed Amaretti cookies for crunch. While the spiced wine boiled and the pears baked, the vanilla and cinnamon perfumed my kitchen. If there is ever a Butter Flour Eggs Scented Candle, (never say never) this is how it will smell. Not icky sweet, just mouth watering.

You’ll notice that the only sugar I added was the small amount sprinkled on the pears after they baked; the wine is so sweet that any further sugar would be overkill, producing a dessert that is way too syrupy. As I write this, we have barely passed mid-August; pear season doesn’t hit for at least another month, so save this dessert for cooler autumn nights. In fact, the warmth and richness of the spices, and the visual of the sparkling pears makes this a really great Christmas dessert. (Is it too early to start talking Christmas?)

How’d I do? I like to think Sue Ann would’ve lovingly stroked my bald head and given me a saucy wink.

And if I’ve whet your appetite for Mary’s dinner party, you can watch the entire Mary Tyler Moore episode on Amazon for $1.99.

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Click here for the recipe for my version of “Baked Pears Alicia.”

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Do I have a food fetish? I am fascinated by food as it is portrayed on screen or on stage. The subject has been on my mind due to all of the publicity for the movie, “Julie and Julia.” I was glad to see that Susan Spungen, the Martha Stewart veteran who styled the food for the movie, was the focus of some of the attention.  After all, in a movie about food, the food itself is one of the characters.

When I see people eating on TV or in the movies my mind goes right to: “Who really cooked the food?” “Is is hot or has it been sitting around for a while?” and on and on.

I’m a little vague on the origins of my fascination though. At least twenty years ago I read that the “roast beef” that the actors ate onstage nightly in a Broadway play was actually pumpernickel bread. Twenty-plus years I have carried this around with me.  Why?

A shrink would ask me, “What does this make you think of?” Ah. Easy: Veal Prince Orloff, guest star of an episode of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” where Sue Ann Nivens, a/k/a “The Happy Homemaker” catered a dinner party for poor, party-challenged Mary.

I use the term “guest star” loosely, because Veal Prince Orloff was, of course, not a person but an entrée. Wikipedia reports that Veal Prince Orloff is a braised loin of veal, thinly sliced, filled with a thin layer of pureed mushrooms and onions between each slice, and stacked back. It is then topped with béchamel sauce and cheese and browned in the oven. (This is based on the recipe in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.)

(Yes, there was a real Prince Orloff, a Russian ambassador to France during the 19^th century.)

(Yes, I just googled Veal Prince Orloff to write this posting, and yes, it has its own Wikipedia entry.)

Which brings me to a startling revelation: the Veal Prince Orloff portrayed in the Mary Tyler Moore Show was not Veal Prince Orloff at all. A recent screening of the episode (ah, the sacrifices one makes to become a blogger) revealed that the item masquerading as Veal Prince Orloff was actually Beef Wellington. I can only speculate why this happened. Perhaps the prop-man thought Beef Wellington would “read” better on the small screen. Hey, that’s show biz, right? I should not be surprised that they cast the role based on looks.

Sue Ann’s dessert that night was “Baked Pears Alicia.” My research on “Baked Pears Alicia” was a bit more difficult as its screen time was much less than the Veal Prince Orloff. You get only the most fleeting glimpse of the pears as Mary passes them on a tray.

Now, I love crisps, cobblers, and pies, especially with a dab of ice cream melting on top, but let’s face it: sometimes fruit desserts can be such a let-down.

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Click here for the recipe for my version of “Baked Pears Alicia.”

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