Monday, July 19, 2004
Camino Articles
In the past few days, and rather by accident, I came across two short pieces that some people with an interest in the Camino might want to read. Thanks to the late arrival of my subscription copy, I learned only yesterday of an article in the current Gramophone Magazine (July 2004, pp. 30-31), “Have Choir Will Travel” by James Jolly (The cover of the issue has the note “John Eliot Gardiner on Taking the Santiago Pilgrimage”). The article discusses a pilgrimage currently in progress by the British conductor John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir. They are crossing France and Spain, beginning at Jaca walking some bits of the Camino, and presenting concerts in various venues enroute. On St. James Day they will be presenting a gala concert in Leon. Mr. Gardiner is one of the best known conductors of Bach’s music currently working, but the concerts still to come (several in France have already taken place) will include a number of composers more closely related to the pilgrimage. Anyone in the vicinity of the Camino with a love for vocal and choral music would be advised to make a detour to attend the concerts. I certainly wish I could attend one or more of them!
The second piece is in a collection by the political poet (mostly published in the Nation Magazine), food writer and humorist Calvin Trillin, “Pepper Chase” in Feeding a Yen (New York: Random House, 2003, ISBN 0-375-50808-2), pp. 17-30. The article is an amusing and mouth watering disquisition on the food of Galicia and in particular pimientos de Padron. The pimientos are an obsession with Mr. Trillin, one that began with an accidental visit to Santiago in the 1960s. He describes the market in Santiago, making it sound like it should be a necessary part of the pilgrimage. He also makes one hungry for the foods enjoyed at the end of the trek.
The second piece is in a collection by the political poet (mostly published in the Nation Magazine), food writer and humorist Calvin Trillin, “Pepper Chase” in Feeding a Yen (New York: Random House, 2003, ISBN 0-375-50808-2), pp. 17-30. The article is an amusing and mouth watering disquisition on the food of Galicia and in particular pimientos de Padron. The pimientos are an obsession with Mr. Trillin, one that began with an accidental visit to Santiago in the 1960s. He describes the market in Santiago, making it sound like it should be a necessary part of the pilgrimage. He also makes one hungry for the foods enjoyed at the end of the trek.
