Every Step You Take by Jock Soto

Author:Jock Soto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

A Soto Variation on a Balanchine Classic

BALANCHINE’S DEATH IN 1983 was a terrible loss for the whole world, and over the years there have been many ways in which his admirers have honored his memory. I heard a new one recently when retired NYCB-dancer Karin von Aroldingen told me that she keeps a piece of Balanchine’s last birthday cake in her freezer and eats a little bite of it each year on his birthday. Karin described how she, Mr. B, and Mr. B’s fourth wife, Tanaquil le Clercq, would often cook meals together, and she kindly lent me a copy of The Ballet Cook Book, a compendium of recipes from famous dancers that Tanny put together in 1966.

In her book Tanny opens the section that presents her husband’s recipes with his description of his ideal sandwich: “Take one half of an un-toasted Thomas’ English muffin, cover it generously with sweet butter, say about a quarter of an inch, spread a layer of excellent black caviar over the butter, at least one inch thick, and cover with the other half of the muffin. If you can’t afford lots of caviar, better to forget the whole thing.”

Reading about Mr. Balanchine’s special caviar sandwich made me hungry for an alternate version—a more affordable (and less caloric) item than Balanchine’s, on a bagel instead of an English muffin—that Luis and I often have as a treat on New Year’s Day. One evening as Luis and I were enjoying our caviar-topped bagels and browsing through The Ballet Cook Book, we flipped to the book’s inside front cover and discovered an inscription, from Tanny to Mr. B: “Christmas 1967 To George—with all my love, and gratitude for helping me so much with this book. T.” We gasped. It was thrilling to imagine that on a Christmas Day long ago, Tanaquil le Clercq presented her husband, George Balanchine, with this very book. I wonder what they ate for dinner that night.

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