By Ola Mazzuca
Last year, I received a wonderful gift from my parents – a cookbook that received rave reviews and coverage in various metal magazines, from a publishing company started by one of my favourite writers; Ian Christe’s Bazillion Points.
Annick Giroux is a multi-talented metal chick, dividing her time between graphic design, DJing and cooking the heaviest of metal meals.
Her book, Hellbent for Cooking, is a compilation of culinary classics of every culture from metal bands and artists around the world. It is a celebration of a simple yet exciting marriage between music and cuisine, where Giroux proves that the portrayal of metalheads being junkfood-lovers false.
I have decided to record my thoughts and experiences while cooking my way through Hellbent for Cooking, also providing my view on the bands that graciously donated their recipes.
Enjoy/Cheers!
Buon Appetito/Salute!
Hellbent Meal #1: Proto Metal Lamb Shanks Braised in Burgundy
by Dana Snitch of Warpig
It was coincidence that I chose this recipe as my first the weekend I received the book, because my family was planning to prepare lamb as a tribute to my grandfather on the anniversary of his death. Always in the kitchen cooking up a storm or in the cantina making homemade wine, lamb was his absolute favourite type of meat!
A very gourmet dish of tangy goodness brought on by red wine. Fresh vegetables are a must.
The recipe is from Woodstock, Ontario psych rock band Warpig. Great classic sound infused with Deep Purple-ish riffs and elements of NWOBHM.
Hellbent Meal #2: Garlic and Coriander King Prawns
by Steve Williams of Budgie
Contemplative on which meal to make next, my familia insisted that I made something involving prawns because we had a lot of it in the freezer.
The white wine (my favourite) and cream was a great base with the garlic and shallot mixture for the prawns to fry in, concluding in a savoury seafood meal in a satisfying portion.
Budgie, who hails from Wales, have produced old-school metal since 1967. You may remember a track off of Metallica’s Garage Inc. called “Crash Course In Brain Surgery”. Well, that was a Budgie original.
Hellbent Meal #3: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
by Scott Ian of Anthrax
Cabbage rolls are a traditional dish amongst Europeans, primarily in the central and eastern regions, in countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Poland, where each prepare the meal with different practices and ingredients.
My Nonna (Italian grandmother) makes cabbage rolls simply with ground beef and Arborio rice, which is why it was intriguing to try Scott Ian’s take on the classic. Ian took reference from his Russian grandmother’s personal recipe by adding oatmeal, raisins, onion and egg to the meat before letting the cabbage rolls simmer in ketchup and ginger ale.
The preparation process was lengthy but the final product was a great surprise that justified the obscure addition of ginger ale, adding a hearty sweetness to the raisin-infused meat evocative of Moroccan flavour.
Anthrax is by far one of my favourite thrash metal bands out there. Hailing from NYC, they became part of the “big four” of thrash alongside Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. Though “Caught In a Mosh” and “Metal Thrashing Mad” are amongst their greatest tracks of punk-fueled, angsty metal, they never confine themselves to one genre, as their collaboration with Public Enemy’s Chuck D to remake “Bring The Noise” demonstrated their creativity and open mindset for other styles of music.
ã Photography by Frank Mazzuca
Keep checking Hellbound.ca for more Blasphemous Meals in the future!
