A GREAT GATSBY FEAST
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
The last line of The Great Gatsby is an iconic one, but still I linger upon it every time I read the novel. A beautifully wordsmithed arrangement that is as poetic as it is contemptuous. Rife with cynicism and yet as poignant as they come, the words always seem to envelope me with their implication, their counsel, their gravity.
I first picked up a copy of Gatsby as a teenager for an assigned reading and since then have read it many times over. Thumbing through the pages, to me, is like dabbing on an old favorite perfume – the prose, so lyrical at times, rancorous at others, is very familiar to me, and always conjures up a flood of emotions. I know how the story goes and how it will end. And yet, my heart always breaks for Gatsby. I’m always left disquieted, searching for new meaning at the conclusion of this utterly elegiac tale.
Generally, my thoughts are more stirred by dark and somber stories. Gatsby, by all means, is not a happy, feel-good story, and the characters are not especially likable. But I think that’s why it’s so good, its message so masterfully emblematic of the disillusionment many must have felt towards the rampant materialism of the Roaring Twenties, when the explosion of the auto industry had given birth to a new level of wealth and decadence. Fitzgerald was, after all, a member of the Lost Generation, an American literary pack living abroad after the first world war, expressing their disgruntled sentiments regarding the prodigious consumerism, moral recklessness, and self-indulgence of the times.
Perhaps it’s Nick Carraway’s earnest voice as the narrator, telling the story as if he’s your closest confidant, but he always draws me into the summer of 1922, straight to the Jazz Age, a post-war culture of flappers and Art Deco, urbanization and automobiles, prohibition and gangsters, vaudeville and talkies, speakeasies and jazz music. The opulence of Gatsby’s mansion parties comes alive. I can practically hear the ice clinking in the cocktail glasses and choke on the haze of tobacco smoke, as the uptempo vibrations of the music pulse through my feet. The air is thick with the scent of tire rubber burning as the roadsters screech by.
Amongst the extravagant escapism and tawdry social airs, there is a pervasive struggle between materialism and idealism throughout the narrative, epiphanized as the great American Dream. That elusive promise of success and prosperity, a concept of upward mobility that’s just out of reach for most, leaving many feeling restless, disenchanted, even bereft at times, which despite the longitudinal outcome, still offers a bounty of hope to the masses.
It is, Fitzgerald warns, this naive optimism in our capacity as dreamers (which Gatsby fully embodies) that is our fatal flaw, a trait that binds us together and consigns us to a vapid agenda with a condemned future, for the pure and hopeful quest to own a piece of the pie called greatness invariably gets corrupted by the pursuit of wealth. Fitzgerald laments that this transgression ultimately wastes man’s second chance at a more virtuous existence in the New World, again and again. With such a grim message, it’s a wonder so many still feel drawn to the story.
Maybe it’s because summer is almost here, but I recently read The Great Gatsby in anticipation of Baz Luhrmann’s “movie event of the year,” and I couldn’t help but recall that barring the disheartened symbolism of Gatsby’s illusory tendencies, the story itself is actually a love story, in fact, a summer romance, the season when love is most heightened.
Though the novel uses romance as a harbinger of ill fate, beneath Fitzgerald’s skepticism lies a certain tenderness, a soft spot for the all-consuming, overwhelming, undying kind of love, the kind that can render a great man like Gatsby a romantic fool. And this is what, I think, continues to draw me back to the story, what draws most of us back, I suppose—we are mesmerized by the love story.
That, and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, which serves as a beacon of hope for Gatsby in an otherwise heartless world, igniting and fueling his most precious of dreams. In the end, I like to think Fitzgerald’s message in the last line of the novel fits right in with the age-old rhythm of history: a nostalgia for the simpler past and uncertainty of the future, fractured by tiny shards of hope—hope—that eternal human virtue that against all odds keeps us beating on, our eyes unwaveringly affixed on that green light on the other side of the bay.
It is on this more hopeful note that I choose to leave the novel. That’s what I love about literature, and any art form, really—the diversity of meaning. You can take from it what you want. So to celebrate the recent release of the film, and because it's one of my favorite books, I give you this menu, which I imagine are the types of dishes you might be served at one of Gatsby's lavish parties. I hope it takes you back in time to the bygone era of Nick, Daisy and Gatsby, like it did me.
To truly transport your dinner to a Roaring Twenties fête, I put together a list of old timey tunes. Click here to listen to the playlist on Spotify.
GREAT GATSBY TUNES:
Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo’bye) -- Al Jolson
Glad Rag Doll -- Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate -- Armand John Piron
Am I Blue? -- Ben Selvin & His Orchestra
Sweet Georgia Brown -- Ethel Waters
I Ain’t Got Nobody -- Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
When My Sugar Walks Down the Street -- Gene Austin & Aileen Stanley
You’re Just a Great Big Baby Doll -- The Piccadilly Players
Black and Tan Fantasy -- Duke Ellington
Crazy Blues -- Mamie Smith
BACON-WRAPPED FILET MIGNON
For the Hunters
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 filet mignon steaks (8 oz each)
2 strips bacon
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°. Pat steaks dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap one piece of bacon around each steak, securing both ends of bacon together with a toothpick (don’t wrap too tight or bacon will rip). Melt butter in oven-proof pan over medium high heat. Sear steaks in pan until brown on both sides (about 2-3 mins per side). Remove pan from heat and place in oven. Finish steaks in oven according to preference (for 8-oz steaks, roast about 3-4 mins for rare, 5-7 mins for medium rare, 8-9 mins for medium). Take toothpick out and let steaks rest a few minutes before serving. *You can also check with a meat thermometer for preferred doneness as well.
BALSAMIC PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS
For the Gatherers
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 portobello mushrooms, whole
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
Splash of red wine
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Whisk olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce and red wine together in bowl. Coat mushrooms with dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Heat sauté pan on medium-high heat. Place mushroom caps gill-side down in pan and sauté with dressing for 5 minutes on medium heat. Flip mushrooms over and cook 3-5 minutes on other side until tender.
SUN-DRIED TOMATO GOAT CHEESE SOUFFLÉ
Ingredients (serves 4):
½ cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp olive oil
3 tbsp almond flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 cup milk (skim or whole)
3 ½ oz crumbled goat cheese
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan
4 large eggs yolks
5 large egg whites
1 tsp lemon zest
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Set eggs and milk out and bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375°. Spray four 2-cup ramekins or one large soufflé baking dish with cooking spray. Dust sides and bottoms with almond flour. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add almond flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, whisking about 1 minute, then add in lemon zest, salt and pepper. Whisk in egg yolks one at a time. Add sundried tomatoes, goat cheese and Parmesan to yolk mixture and stir. Transfer mix to large mixing bowl.
In separate clean bowl, beat egg whites with an electric beater until stiff peaks form (avoid overbeating). Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the sundried tomato-goat cheese mix, repeat until all of the egg whites are folded in. Gently spoon mixture equally into ramekins (or large soufflé dish), filling until about ½ inch to rim. Place ramekins on baking tray, set tray in oven and bake until center is puffed and lightly browned, about 25-30 mins (ovens vary, so check soufflé at 20 mins, and then in 2-min intervals). Recipe is gluten-free and vegetarian. * I lightened up the recipe up by using skim milk, but you can use whole milk if you prefer.
BLACK TRUFFLE ASPARAGUS GRATIN
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 pound asparagus (medium thickness)
1 tsp black truffle oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tbsp almond flour
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Trim asparagus ends and rinse asparagus spears. Arrange in baking dish. Coat spears with black truffle oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle grated Parmesan and almond flour over top. Drizzle a bit more truffle oil (or olive oil) on top. Roast for 10-15 minutes until asparagus is tender (but not mushy) and cheese is slightly browned. (Roasting time will vary depending on the thickness of asparagus – try 5-7 mins for skinny asparagus and 15-20 mins for very thick asparagus.) Recipe is gluten-free and vegetarian.
DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH BLACKBERRY CREAM
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
3 ½ oz dark chocolate (86%)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp sugar substitute (or sugar)
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6 oz container blackberries
½ tsp of sugar substitute (or sugar)
Directions:
Heat ½ cup of cream in saucepan until hot but not boiling. In a mixing bowl, whisk yolks, vanilla extract, sugar substitute (or sugar), and a pinch of salt until combined. Slowly whisk the hot cream into the bowl in batches to temper the eggs. Return custard to saucepan and stir constantly until custard easily coats the back of a spoon. In separate mixing bowl, break up chocolate and pour hot custard over top, stirring until chocolate is melted and thoroughly combined with custard.
In separate mixing bowl, beat another ½ cup cream with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into the chocolate custard until combined. Spoon into glasses or ramekins, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours. When ready to serve, make the blackberry cream. Rinse blackberries and puree in a food processor or blender. Beat remaining ½ cup whipping cream with sugar substitute (or sugar) in bowl until soft peaks form. Fold in the blackberry puree. Top each mousse cup with a dollop of blackberry cream and garnish with fresh blackberries.
ST. GERMAIN-CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
Ingredients (serves 1):
1 oz St. Germain
2 oz Champagne or brut sparkling wine, chilled
2 oz club soda, chilled
Lemon twist
Directions:
Pour all ingredients together in a champagne cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon. * We had Cava on hand, so I used that instead of Champagne - it was delicious.
For those of you who stuck with me until the end of this rather lengthy post, and because it's almost summer, here is a more uplifting quote from The Great Gatsby before I bid you adieu:
"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning again with the summer." - F. Scott Fitzgerald