Daily Mail - 12.08.2019

Page 58

QUESTIONS

FOOLPROOF way to

cook this classic dish.

SERVES 4

A star raven’s

rave review

Compiled by Charles Legge

TODAY’S RECIPE:

Easiest ever paella

Method

QUESTION

Did Edgar Allan
Poe base his
poem The Raven on a real bird?

The Raven is one of edgar Allan Poe’s
most famous works. The 1845 poem is the
story of a raven that makes a nocturnal
visit to a distraught lover, who is mourning
the death of his beloved Lenore. The
raven’s croaking refrain ‘Nevermore’ adds
to the sense of grief.
The Raven was probably inspired by
Grip, Charles Dickens’s pet raven, which
featured in his novel Barnaby Rudge.
Poe met Dickens in Philadelphia on the
author’s 1842 U.S. tour and the novelist
helped him find publishers for his work in
Britain. The year before, Dickens had
published Barnaby Rudge, in which the
title character’s constant companion is
his articulate pet raven.
Dickens’s own raven, Grip, had died
shortly before the novel was published.
Dickens showed a picture of Grip to Poe,
who was delighted to learn the bird in the
novel was based on a real-life creature.
Poe had written a review of Barnaby
Rudge for Graham’s Magazine, saying
that the raven could have served a more
symbolic purpose in the novel: ‘The
raven, too, intensely amusing as it is,
might have been made, more than we
now see it, a portion of the conception of

the fantastic Barnaby. Its croakings

might have been prophetically heard in

the course of the drama.’ he went on to

do just this in his own poem.

Literary critics noted the similarity,

with some accusing Poe of plagiarism. In

1848, writer James Russell Lowell wrote:

‘Here comes Poe with his raven,

like Barnaby Rudge

‘Three-fifths of him genius, two-fifths

sheer fudge.’

Poe’s death in 1849, at the age of just 40,

added to the poignancy of The Raven.

Dickens had Grip stuffed and kept him

in his office. The bird is now on display at

the Rare Book Department of the Free

Library of Philadelphia.

Gerald D. Forster, Louth, Lincs.

QUESTION

What was the

last volcano to

erupt in Britain? Does Australia have

active volcanoes?

The last volcanic activity in Britain took

place between 60 and 55 million years

ago, probably at the Ardnamurchan

peninsula and the Isle of Mull.

The supercontinent Pangea began to

break up during the Jurassic period,

201 to 143 million years ago. Britain

drifted northwards on the eurasian plate

and the Atlantic began to form, separat-

ing Scotland and North America.

This stretching of the crust created

weaknesses in the surface of the rock.

Lava rising through cracks formed dykes

across northern england, southern

Scotland and the Inner hebrides.

huge fissure eruptions covered large

areas of land with lava, creating a

geological feature known as flood basalt.

This can be found in Northern Ireland

and the hebrides. The hexagonal columns

of Giant’s Causeway in Co. Antrim and

Fingal’s Cave on Staffa were caused by

molten basalt cooling.

The most recent eruptions in Australia

occurred at Mt Gambier and Mt Schank

in South Australia 5,000 years ago. These

volcanoes are part of a larger volcanic area

where further eruptions are expected.

Alan McMurray, Cambridge.

O IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted

to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a

question raised here? Send your questions and answers

to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily

Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. You can also fax

them to 01952 780111 or you can email them to charles.

[email protected]. A selection will be published but

we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.

: Why was the 19th-century Kingdom

of the Two Sicilies so called?

Mary Evans, Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

: The Dutch love hagelslag: chocolate

sprinkles on toast. Do they eat any

other foods in an unusual way?

B. Mason, Welshpool, Montgomeryshire.

: Where does the phrase ‘going to

hell in a handbasket’ originate?

W. L. Edwards, Burton upon Trent, Staffs.

Q

Q

Q

Ingredients

Picture: ALAMY

Loyal: Barnaby Rudge with his raven

1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek or onion, sliced

110g chorizo

sausage, chopped

1 tsp turmeric

300g long-grain rice

1 litre fish or

chicken stock

200g frozen peas

400g frozen seafood

mix, defrosted

Lemon wedges,

to serve

1 Heat oil in a deep frying pan, then cook leeks

for five minutes until soft, without browning.

Add chorizo and fry until it releases its oils. Stir

in turmeric and rice so it's coated by the oils,

then pour in stock. Bring to the boil, then

simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2 Tip in the peas and cook for five minutes,

then stir in the seafood to heat through for a

final couple of minutes, or until the rice is

cooked. Check the seasoning and serve

immediately with lemon wedges.

O RECIPE of the Day brought to you in association

with BBC Good Food Magazine. Subscribe today and

get your first five issues for £5 (direct debit). Visit

buysubscriptions.com/goodfood and enter code

GFDAILY19 or call 03330 162 124 and quote GFDAILY19.

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ACROSS: 12 Go to the wall,

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87 Have one's way.

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11 Supposed, 15 Tuxedo,

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70 Dispute, 71 Quarter,

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78 Usual, 80 Kilt, 84 Clap.

GIANT CROSSWORD SOLUTION

(^) Daily Mail, Monday, August 12, 2019