'She's wolfing canapés like a famished warthog'

Are you grieving the end of Succession like I am? I offer some links to fantastic essays about the role eating plays in the Roy dynasty. Plus a beautiful summery recipe for .... canapés.

I’ve just spent two days driving to France - just me and my dog Cookie - so this week’s newsletter is a bit late and short, apologies. I anticipate delicious France-inspired recipes, restaurant and market recommendations to come, so if you’re planning a trip to the south of France - we’re staying in Avignon for a month - make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter one way or another. Please consider a paid subscription if you’d like to receive all my recipes, newsletters and tips - a free subscription gives you every alternate newsletter. I’m very very good at snuffling out all the very best delicious things.

I’ve been reflecting on Succession, like many of us who are feeling televisually bereft after the Season 4 finale, and considering how utterly amazing the script was (nothing else comes near it, except maybe Fleabag). So, I consoled myself on the ferry journey to France by reading what various commentators had to say about the food on the show.

I’ve got to admit I hadn’t given this much thought before, although it had occurred to me there was very little actual eating done amid the scheming and backstabbing. For example, when the siblings gather at a fancy New York restaurant for a breakfast meeting to discuss their father’s funeral, none of them eats a thing. They leave all those divine little breakfast pastries on the table untouched. Same with the the family feasts at Logan’s New York mansion - there’s too much important squabbling and power-playing to do to eat any of it.

As Tejal Roy observes in an excellent New York Times piece, food is for the weak and striving. In one of the best scenes of series 4, not-from-money Tom, who zealously points out breaches of upper-class etiquette by others, tells cousin Greg that the inappropriate date he brought with him to Logan’s birthday party “was wolfing all the canapés like a famished warthog”. Like, there’s nothing more gauche than actually eating the food.

(Check out this brilliant scene from Season 2, I think it is, where Tom and Greg get into “training” for going to prison by eating ‘prison food’ in the form an an inferior omelette that is the texture of ‘camel’s labia’).

In a terrific piece in Town & Country titled Why Do Rich Guys Love Diners? Charlotte Druckman observes that when they do eat, the powerful don’t need to indulge in fine dining. While (wannabe) Tom was having breakfast at the swanky The Mark hotel, Logan snuck away from his own birthday to the Nectar cafe.

Elsewhere, the HuffPost observes that food is widely used throughout the show as insults, waste and power moves. And Mashed has a theory that food is used to represent the underlying tensions in the web of complicated relationships.

Eater, meanwhile, serves up a fantastic piece about the most excruciating Succession dinner scenes ‘ranked by distress’. It’s enough to make you want to start watching the whole four series all over again.

Meanwhile, as a gal who is never far away from the canapé tray and always wolfs down more than her fair share, I offer you a recipe. It’s in true canapé style (the term comes for the French word for sofa and references toppings sitting on bread or pastry). It’s absolutely delicious and perfect for the summer - just make ahead and store in the fridge until ready to slather it on little bits of toast or crackers.

Beetroot, goat's yoghurt and watercress canapés

This is like a classic beetroot, goat’s cheese and watercress salad but in purée form – each mouthful is deeply flavourful, earthy and a little bit sharp. It’s very moreish. Goat’s milk yogurt isn’t hard to find but if you use plain Greek yoghurt it will still be delicious.

• 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed

• 600g fresh raw beetroots, trimmed, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds

• sea salt flakes

• freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 200g goat’s milk yoghurt (Greek yoghurt is fine but not as tasty)

• 60g watercress leaves, chopped

• 40g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

• lemon juice, to taste

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in pan over a medium-high heat. Add the beetroot and nigella seeds and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir to coat in the oil for a minute or so, then add the balsamic vinegar. Let it bubbleup for a moment, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until very tender, 30–40 minutes. Stir and take a peek now and then, adding a splash of water if the beetroot looks like it might stick to the bottom of the pan.

2. When the beetroot is very tender, set aside to cool a little, then transfer to a food processor and blitz with the remaining oil until the mixture is as smooth as you can get it. Add the yoghurt, watercress, walnuts, a splash of lemon juice and some more salt and pepper. Blitz until lovely and creamy. Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if needed. Spread thickly on toast or crackers.