A few years ago, I wrote a post on ‘Food and the crime novel’, focused on Agatha Christie’s clever mystery The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and the way a meal in that novel illustrates the deception which is a hallmark of crime fiction.
In the same post I also referred briefly to literary detectives who enjoy cooking – Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta and Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti – as well as those who steer clear of the kitchen and survive on takeaways and alcohol (Ian Rankin’s John Rebus and Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander).
However, I recently read a crime novel where a chef ends up becoming the detective, whilst simultaneously producing food of a high quality.
Alex Coombs’ Murder on the Menu, which was published in 2023, is the first in the Old Forge Cafe Mysteries which feature Charlie Hunter, a young chef who runs a cafe in Hampden Green, a village in the Chilterns that, like Agatha Christie’s St Mary Mead, the home of her amateur sleuth Miss Marple, is the site of a shocking number of murders.
When the novel opens, Charlie has just arrived in the village – from London – to take possession of the Old Forge Cafe. Straight away she finds herself in the middle of a host of criminal activities: sausage theft, arson and a murder all happen in the first eight chapters. And in every case Charlie – facing hostility for being an outsider – finds the finger of suspicion pointing at her.
As the bodies pile up, Charlie is persuaded by one of the few locals who shows her some kindness, that it’s up to her to try and solve the crimes and clear her name in the process.
Alongside all the murder and mayhem, Charlie keeps cooking and serving food to her customers. According to the short author biography on the book’s back cover, the author Alex Coombs, is a qualified chef, and his culinary knowledge is clear. Not only are numerous ‘cheffy’ dishes referred to – ‘bream and beurre noisette’, ‘pan-fried venison’, ‘pear and blueberry pudding with Chantilly cream’, ‘passion fruit mousse‘ – but Coombs also frequently has Charlie narrate the steps she takes to make the dishes:
‘I quickly seared off some slices of venison… in a small frying pan and while it rested made a speedy sauce from the juices in the pan deglazed with balsamic vinegar, madeira, reduced stock, juniper berries and cranberry sauce, served topped with blackberries’.
The forensic level of detail to both make – and describe – the dish, matches the eye for detail needed to solve the murders haunting Hampden Green.
Out of all the dishes that Charlie makes in Murder on the Menu, I chose to make Bakewell tarts. They are actually only mentioned fleetingly when Charlie refers to having made ‘sweet pastry for tarts, Bakewell and fruit‘, and choosing to make these might be considered a bit of a cop out as I have already made bakewell tart for this blog when writing about Sarah Winman’s novel When God was a Rabbit . However, that was one big rhubarb bakewell tart to share, and this time I made individual traditional bakewell tarts – with raspberry jam – as would be appropriate for a restaurant setting. I also took it as an opportunity to try out a new way of making sweet shortcrust pastry that I recently learnt in a cookery class at La Cuisine Paris, an English-speaking cookery class in Paris. And finally, I love Bakewell tart and truly believe you can never make it often enough.
A DETECTIVE’S BAKEWELL TARTS
Ingredients (makes 6 individual tarts):
For the pastry:
250g plain flour
120g unsalted butter, very soft
100g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
For the frangipane:
4 free-range eggs, plus 2 yolks
115g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
150g ground almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract
Raspberry jam
For decoration:
3 tablespoons flaked almonds
sieved icing sugar
Method:
Place the sugar and butter in a bowl. Cream together using a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon. Then add the egg and mix in. Add the flour and start to mix the dough by hand until all the flour is incorporated.
Wrap the dough in cling film or greaseproof paper and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 190C / 170C fan / Gas mark 5.
Remove the dough from the fridge, and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 2 or 3mm thick. Line 6 individual tart tins – there’s no need to grease them as the high fat content in the pastry means it won’t stick. Line the pastry cases with greaseproof paper and baking beans, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, and return to the oven for another 5 minutes baking. Then remove and reduce the oven temperature to 180C / 160C fan / Gas mark 4.
While the pastry is baking, make the frangipane. Beat together the eggs (plus yolks) and sugar, then add the melted butter, ground almonds and almond extract.
Spread 1 heaped tablespoon of raspberry jam on the base of each pastry case. Cover with the frangipane and smooth out with a knife so the surface is level.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed.
Leave to cool. Keeping the oven on, place the flaked almonds on a baking tray and bake for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.
When you’re ready to serve, dust the tarts with a light sprinking of sieved icing sugar and a handful of the almonds.
