Celebrating the late, great Vincent Price

Celebrating the late great Vincent Price...

Any readers who are fans of horror films as well as food, will probably already know that Vincent Price was much more than just the star of many a gruesome and scary film. I recently joined in some of the highly entertaining celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Treasury of Great Recipes, which he wrote with his wife Mary. The pair were dedicated bon viveurs and as they travelled the world, they collected recipes from some excellent chefs and restaurants and gathered them together into this wonderful book. I managed to get a pristine first edition on Ebay a few years ago and I totally love it.

This anniversary was an auspicious occasion and was duly marked by the Vincent Price London Legacy Tour 2015. I helped out at one suitably gruesome event, which you can read about here. Suffice to say, making around 300 mini toad in the holes à la Vincent is a time consuming and slightly dull way to spend a Friday. But the guests loved them, so it was a day well spent.

Much more relaxing was an event I went along to as a paying customer: this was a fascinating early morning tour of Harrods Food Hall. Vincent and Mary were massive fans of the store, so this was a highly appropriate stop on the legacy tour.

Director of Foods at Harrods, Bruce Langlands, gave us a fascinating trip around the halls before the store opened for business. It was a hive of activity, with an army of staff preparing for a busy Saturday’s trading of the finest foods. Bruce started us off with chocolate - I am very partial to a spot of chocolate, but 9am is a bit early for me, but luckily (?) this wasn’t a tasting tour. Bruce told us all about the beautiful tiles that adorn the various rooms - much of the food hall is listed, limiting what can be done and making repairs a bit of a headache at times. But a lot of the decor is stunning - it was a real privilege to be able to appreciate it when the place isn’t packed with shoppers. We drooled over the patisserie selection and sighed longingly as we passed by the exotic fruits and vegetables. We were allowed to try the pineberries - a cross between a pineapple and a strawberry - sounds slightly odd, but it was rather lovely.

Bruce explained that the days when Harrods served as the local shop for the residents of Knightsbridge are long gone. As far as he’s concerned, that’s a good thing - he doesn’t have to stock baked beans and toilet paper any more and he can focus on the more interesting and unusual fare. It was wonderful to have a proper tour - I’m not a regular visitor to Harrods, but when I’ve been before, I certainly haven’t really paid attention to the beauty of the food hall. I was actually once banned from going into the store, for having the audacity to show up in what the doorman considered to be an unseemly crop top. Bruce assured me that wouldn’t happen these days…

After our tour, we were all feeling pretty hungry - which was just as well, as the event included a magnificent breakfast in the Georgian restaurant. We started with a glass of Harrods champagne, always a good way to get your Saturday under way. There was a lovely fruit salad, a cute little pot of granola and yoghurt (delicious), a pot of ricotta and honey (also excellent) and assorted croissants. Just when we were all discussing what a wonderful breakfast it was, the main event was served. This was a traditional full English - the pièce de resistance was Vincent’s very own Buckingham Eggs. You can find the recipe here (http://www.silverscreensuppers.com/vincent-price/vincent-price-buckingham-eggs). The Silver Screen Suppers blog is always worth a visit to find out which star of the silver screen Jenny is writing about - who knew so many of them were food obsessives! We were also served sausage, bacon, baked beans, mushroom and, finally, black pudding. I have to confess that I’ve never much cared for the idea of this, but in the spirit of Adventures on a Plate, I have vowed to try pretty much everything I’m offered. My verdict: it was fine, not as strongly flavoured as I had always assumed it would be, but I won’t be rushing out to buy some any time soon - no offence to Harrods - everything else was fabulous!