Wrapping the Orchids

For a 125th birthday bash, the Black Orchid Weekend festivities in New York City were really pretty spectacular.

The Wolfe Pack celebrates Black Orchid Weekend every year over the first weekend in December, honoring Rex Stout's birthday. This was the 125th anniversary of his birth, and the events had an extra degree of entertainment and enjoyment because of the special holiday.

Friday night was a book discussion of one of the novellas - "Christmas Party," appropriate to the season. It's one of the four novellas in And Four To Go. Along with the discussion, attendees got to view an enhanced made-for-television version of the story produced for A&E television. This was a version produced for the overseas market and not generally available in the United States, with some added scenes not to be found in the U.S. edition.

Saturday afternoon, the group held its Annual Assembly, an opportunity to listen to four presentations on aspects of Wolfean lore. Among the topics was a fascinating discussion of Rex Stout's immigrant ancestors. As always, the presentations were lively, informative and amusing.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night's 34th Annual Black Orchid Banquet. The meal contained dishes from the different Wolfe books - the main course, for example, was Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings, based on a dish served in Some Buried Caesar. The group's Nero and Black Orchid Novella awards were presented (see the previous post), and the whole affair was enlivened by the usual run of song parodies, toasts and speeches.

The weekend concluded with an informal brunch gathering Sunday morning, highlighed by a pun contest - certainly not an affair for the faint of heart.

It was a weekend to savor for Wolfean fans.

Comments

[Yvette]

Sounds like a great Wolfe-ian Weekend, Les. As for the menu, I must say that a lot of what Wolfe and Archie eat sounds a bit over-the-top to me - stuff I've never eaten and probably never will. I don't like kidneys, don't care how Fritz cooked them. Don't like the whole idea of eating lamb's hearts or fresly slaughtered kid (goat). Ugh.

I've often wondered too, what shad roe is. Fish eggs? How can you fix those little things in casserole? Just wonderin'.

[Les Blatt]

Yvette, I've never had shad roe - I suspect I feel roughly the same about it as you do. For details (frankly, more about the subject than I wanted to know), check out http://www.thecitycook.com/cooking/articles/season/000067 - the site of "The City Cook."

I can tell you that none of the Wolfe Pack banquets that I have attended have featured what is politely called "organ meat" - tripe, kidneys, hearts and worse (or better, I suppose, depending on your tastes and point of view). Even at the Pack's "Shad Roe" dinners, an alternative was always offered - and, I believe, widely taken.

FYI, the menu from last weekend: Corn Cakes, Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings, Beet and Watercress Salad, Pumpkin Praline Tart with Toasted Marshmallows and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. Nothing there to make a gourmand like Wolfe - or me - cringe.