From the Vista (CA) Kasbah

It's here! It's here! Bitter Sweet: A Wartime Journal and Heirloom Recipes from Occupied France has made it to Vista (CA)!

February 2023

Musings

The Kasbah Chronicles (in its 13th year)

now on Substack (for free)

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BITTER SWEET:
A Wartime Journal and Heirloom Recipes from Occupied France

For Queen Elizabeth, the year 1992 was an "anno horribilis". For many of us, the COVID years fit the description.

And 2023 began on an even sadder note for me: I lost Owen, my husband of 52 years on January 6th, 2023 after he spent ten days in hospital battling a raging infection awakened by a routine MOHS procedure. Owen, a 40-year cancer survivor, was imuno-supressed and his body could no longer fight the good fight. We spent from December 25th to January 6th in hospital, and he was gone.

Owen had wonderful care at Palomar Health Hospital (Escondido, CA). His nurses should have sprouted wings. They were so compassionate, patient, and loving in spite of being short-staffed and overworked. Of course, they all fell under Owen's charm over the course of the week. He kept them entertained with stories of our publishing adventures and of our life in Morocco and beyond until 3 days before he passed away.

A new chapter begins with the publication of Bitter Sweet, which Owen helped research and edit, and for which he took the color food shots. Now, not only will Bitter Sweet be a tribute to my Alsatian ancestors, but it will also serve to memorialize my brilliant, talented, and witty husband.

For a personalized copy, order from my website, kittymorse.com or email me at kitty@kittymorse.com. Each book (240 p, illustrated hardcopy) costs $35.00, plus tax and shipping via media mail in the US. Otherwise, order directly from Amazon.com or ask for it at your favorite independent bookstore.

I was fortunate to receive lovely blurbs.

• "This multi-sensory exploration of Kitty Morse's family’s history and recipes is full of  surprises  I can just imagine how delighted the author must have been stumbling on this treasure trove of family documents.  “Bitter Sweet” is truly a bitter sweet tale about how part of a family was saved from Nazi-occupied Alsace/Lorraine and the delicious, rediscovered recipes that show how French, Alsatian, yet culturally Jewish her family once was, living in La Belle Epoque (The Beautiful Age).–—Joan Nathan, author of Quiches, Kugels and Couscous and My Search for Jewish Cooking in France

Bitter Sweet is based upon the war journal of my French great-grandfather, Dr. Prosper Levy,  chronicling the advance of the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine from April to December 1940.  I discovered both Prosper's journal and Blanche's recipes in a little black suitcase my mother kept in a closet for decades without showing me the contents. Prosper, twice the recipient of the légion d'honneur in WWI,  died alone, a victim of dementia in 1944. HIs wife Blanche, died at Auschwitz along with her daughter and son-in-law a few weeks before the Liberation. How could I not write this book as a memorial to these murdered relatives? How could I ignore the more than 70 hand-written recipes Blanche wrote down in another small notebook? So began the epic task of translating journal and recipes into English, and testing the recipes for the American kitchen. Our project started at the onset of the COVID confinement and kept us busy for the past 3 years. 

HELP PLEASE:

If you know of a museum gift store, synagogue, or an indie bookstore in your area that might consider carrying Bitter Sweet do let me know.

Thank you.

Links of interest

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/23/1150791939/casablanca-war-movie-film-refugees-nazis

This is a wonderful NPR story about the European-born actors who were real refugees  and who had parts in Casablanca.  Very interesting story about my hometown of Casablanca during WWII!

The movie Casablanca is one of my favorites. Did you know it was banned in Morocco until the early 1980s, until the Hyatt Hotel decided to show it continuously in their bar. Suddenly waiters were wearing raincoats and fedoras rather than baggy pants and fezzes!

This NPR story made me rethink the movie classic. During WWII, Casablanca was a haven for war refugees and spies of all nationalities. The cosmopolitan city was a transit point, a fact confirmed by my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother, all local residents. All hosted refugees at one time or another. Jewish refugees especially sought the safety of Morocco, thanks to King Mohammed V's (grand-father of present King Mohammed VI) who promised to protect "his" Jews from the Vichy government.

My great-grandmother,Blanche Lévy-Neymarck, around 19 years old, in a typical Alsatian costume. I own all the original family documents that illustrate the text.And here is one of the recipes from her notebook.

KALOUGAT

Kalougat de Blanche

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Serves 6

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

7 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

¼ cup almond meal

2 teaspoons white vinegar

Crème anglaise or crème fraiche

Preparing kalougat the day before helps the cake acquire its dense, pudding like consistency.

Preheat oven to 325º F. 

Butter a non-stick 9-inch pie pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and line the base with a round of lightly buttered parchment paper. Set aside.

Bring water to a boil in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add the chocolate and the butter to the upper container. Stir the mixture until smooth and set aside.

     Separate the eggs. In a large bowl, beat the yolks with ¾ cup of the powdered sugar until the mixture forms thick ribbons. In increments, fold in the almond meal and then blend in the chocolate/butter mixture. 

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites and vinegar until soft peaks form. Add the remaining ¼ cup powdered sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the almond meal/chocolate mixture. Pour the finished batter into the greased pie tin and set it inside a roasting pan. Create a bain-marie (water bath,) by carefully adding boiling water to the roasting pan until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the pie tin. Bake until the kalougat is set, 45 to 50 minutes.

Unmold the warm cake, remove the parchment paper, and transfer to a rack to cool overnight. Cut into wedges and serve on individual dessert plates in pools of warm crème anglaise.

For the crème anglaise (vanilla custard):

 In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add 2½ cups milk and whisk continuously until warm. Separate the two remaining eggs, reserving the whites for another use. Remove ¼ cup of the cornstarch/sugar mixture to a small bowl and stir in the egg yolks. Return this mixture to the saucepan, whisking continuously over low heat until the custard begins to thicken, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil.

     Remove custard from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Cover to prevent a skin from forming and keep warm.

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