Scampi and Chips anyone?

Food features strongly in The Dumb Waiter, not surprisingly when its the main purpose of the miniature culinary lift, and while I am sure I could write an essay on Pinter’s use of food in the text, this will be more of a general interest story, specifically Scampi.

“I’m not entirely sure what scampi is,” I asked our marvellous direct Mr Jamie Glover, “is it prawns?”

“I think its monkfish tail, but don’t hold me to that.” was the (slightly paraphrased) response.

So I did the only thing you can do when you need a question answered, I googled, and it turns out:

“Scampi is a culinary preparation of Nephrops norvegicus or a similar lobster such as Metanephrops.”

Of course!  Nephrop and Metanphrop I know them well…

www.ifood.tv Thankfully has a more enlightening explanation to the breaded seafood’s history.

"The shrimp scampi was first mentioned in the American cookbooks published in 1920. It referred to a dish cooked with shrimps which had been basted with olive oil, white wine, garlic and butter. The Italian scampi recipe gained popularity in America after the World War II with the Tenakill Restaurant of New Jersey being the first to advertise the dish. The Norway lobster started replacing the Dublin Bay prawns gradually in Britain in the 1950s and 60s. The scampi recipe from Italy recommended deep frying the large lobster tails after they had been coated in breadcrumbs."

Scampi around the World!

• USA- Shrimps served with garlic, butter and wine. A popular variation of this dish is made with chicken instead of the shellfish.

• UK- Norway lobster covered with batter and deep fried. Fried shrimps served with chips are also popular across Great Britain and Ireland.

• Greece- Baked shrimps served with Parmesan cheese.

• Italy- Fried shrimps served with linguine pasta and black pepper.

• Japan-Witloaf cooked with orange and olive oil is topped with shallow fried shrimps seasoned with herbs.

America even has a National Scampi Day on April 29^th!

Langoustine scampi with lemon mayo

Top of Form

Ingredients

·         vegetable oil, for deep frying

·         28 langoustines, shelled and de-viened

·         110g/4oz self-raising flour

·         110g/4oz cornflour

·         275ml/9floz tonic water

·         2 tbsp vodka

For the mayonnaise

·         2 free-range eggs, yolks only

·         2 tsp white wine vinegar

·         1 tsp Dijon mustard

·         300ml/10fl oz rapeseed oil

·         1 lemon, juice only

·         sea salt, to taste

Preparation method

1.    For the scampi, heat a deep fat fryer to 190C/375F. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

2.    Meanwhile, mix the flour and cornflour in a bowl until well combined.

3.    Pour the tonic water into the flours and whisk in the vodka until the batter is about the consistency of double cream.

4.    Coat the langoustines in the batter and fry in the oil for 3-4 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp.

5.    Remove the scampi with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

6.    For the mayonnaise, place the eggs, white wine vinegar and mustard into a food processor and blend until pale and creamy.

7.    With the motor running, pour in the oil, in a slow steady stream, until the mayonnaise is thick (you may not need all the oil). Mix in the lemon juice.

8.    To serve, pile the scampi in a serving bowl and serve the lemon mayonnaise alongside. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice.

A Younger Theatre: On Jamie Glover

Posted on http://www.ayoungertheatre.com 23 October 2013

Written by Lisa Carroll

I’m lucky to manage to catch Director Jamie Glover for a quick chat in between preparations for The Dumb Waiter, which is about to open at one of London’s most exciting new venues, The Print Room. Glover is a busy man, dividing his time between directing and acting, having built up a formidable CV on the stage, television and silver screen. However, he shows no signs of tiring of it all – infectiously effervescent as he is – and boyishly enthusiastic about his first directorial outing at The Print Room, a converted 1950s warehouse which offers diverse, eclectic programming and a unique atmosphere: “it’s unusual and brilliant and I’m loving it,” he tells me, and I am left in no doubt about it. 

When I ask him what it’s like switching between acting and directing, he is swift to point out how he sees the roles going hand in hand: “I do think they complement each other, and I think since I’ve been a director it’s made me more tolerant of other directors when I’m working with them as an actor – they definitely illuminate each other.” Where, as an actor, Glover might have had quibbles about certain creative decisions that were made, now, in reviving The Dumb Waiter, he tells me he enjoys the chance to make those decisions himself so that he can do justice to one of Pinter’s most celebrated works. 

When I ask him how he tends to approach directing, he tells me, “It’s not surprising, I guess – I’m a director who wants to facilitate the actor.” He insists that, with him, the rehearsal room is an open space to try out ideas, where he wants to make the actors as comfortable as possible in their parts. And, where many directors might see their role as central in deciding upon a vision or interpretation of a play, Glover prefers to step back: “I don’t want to shoehorn them into the concept I have, unwillingly. I think the most important people in the play are the writer and the actors.” 

Glover points out that with his work, it’s all about learning and continuing to learn, irrespective of which role you’re in or how far you’ve come in your career. Even though this is not Glover’s first outing as a director, he is sure that this experience of staging The Dumb Waiter will nonetheless play into whatever acting project comes next. He tells me that, “whereas before, as an actor, I might have been impatient earlier on in the rehearsal process about something not being fixed, now, since being a director, I think – do you know what? The fact that they haven’t mentioned it doesn’t mean they haven’t noticed it. They might be, quite rightly, biding their time about when to give that note or when to fix that thing and let something play out first.” 

Glover’s sense of the two areas bleeding into one another is refreshing, particularly when it feels that the theatre industry can be keen to classify people as director or actor, writer or – as Glover puts it – “fish or fowl”. Glover feels sure that, these days, the industry is developing to accommodate those people who do straddle various different skill-sets, since, as he sees it, they all “cross-fertilise” and make for a healthier theatre culture. In light of which, his advice to those looking to pursue a similar path is to “keep yourself open to different influences and put yourself through as many experiences as you can,” though he admits he is still working it all out himself as he goes along. 

And while taking everything as it comes in the bigger picture of his career, Glover nonetheless has a clear sense of direction with The Dumb Waiter: “we’re not setting it on Mars or anything like that – we’re doing what Pinter wrote. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – and this one certainly isn’t broke.” He tells me that audiences can expect this production to stay true to Pinter’s original text: funny, with those tones of menace and fear that Pinter was so well known for. “Hopefully they’ll have a knot of tension in their stomach,” he muses. 

Despite being first performed in 1960 at the Hampstead Theatre, Glover is fascinated by just how pertinent and political The Dumb Waiter still feels – “completely box fresh,” as he puts it. The production explores authoritarianism, as well as ‘divide and rule’ tactics, behaviours which we still see from politicians today around the world, as well as on the home front. And for these reasons, Glover is determined that The Dumb Waiter should speak to a contemporary audience, since “Pinter came through at a time with other playwrights who you could argue have dated, but he has remained absolutely, completely and utterly current.” 

And, though it is clear that Glover wishes to continue to wax lyrical about Pinter and his body of work, unfortunately our time is soon up and Glover must rush back to the rehearsal room. I quickly ask him what’s next for him – directing or acting – and he laughs, “hopefully something before the end of the year acting-wise – I want to be able to pay the gas bill,” and with fingers in so many pies and such passion added into the mix, I have no doubt he’ll manage to.

Poetry @ The Print Room -- Helen Mort

Five-times-winner of the Foyle Young Poets Award, Helen Mort received an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and won the Ancherster Young Writer Prize in 2008. In 2010, she was poet in Residence at the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere.

"Helen Mort is among the brightest stars in the sparkling new constellation of young British poets" (Carol Ann Duffy)

For Poetry @ The Print Room, Helen will be reading from her eagerly anticipated first collection Division Street.

 ‘this is a collection that cherishes specificity: the particularity of names; the reflections the world throws back at us; the precise moment of a realisation. Distinctive and assured, these poems show us how, at the site of conflict, a moment of reconciliation can be born.’

"Gritty, witty, stylish and totally memorable. Division Street is a book which has something important to say, addressing a wide range of topics with novelty and intelligence." (John Glenday)