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Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
With some beloved librarians from the Traverse Area District Library, host Christy L'Esperance will be exploring music from classic Roald Dahl books: "James and the Giant Peach," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Big Friendly Giant," and "Matilda." Since this is a month of tasty treats, we'll talk about the food featured in those books and include a recipe here on the website!
We've learned this week that Roald Dahl got the ideas for "James and the Giant Peach" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" by looking at trees in his yard.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" came to him in a delicious way: when Roald Dahl was a kid, the Cadbury Chocolate company would send new chocolates to his school for students to test. Cadbury is famous for the Cadbury egg and those delicious chocolate oranges.
He got the idea for the secretive Willy Wonka because Cadbury had an intense rivalry with Rowntree's, another candy company. Rowntree's invented Kit Kats, Smarties and Rolos. Cadbury and Rowntee's would try to steal each other's trade secrets, which inspired the secrecy surrounding Wonka's factory.
The 1971 movie version of the book, called "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," had candy in almost every scene. But the misbehavior of the children visiting the factory leads to consequences worse than a stomach ache. The first kid to have a misbehavior accident is Augustus Gloop. He drinks out of Willy Wonka's Chocolate river, contaminating it before falling in.
Augustus Gloop’s Chocolate River Hot Chocolate
4 Servings
Ingredients
3 cups whole milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped bars
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, whisk to combine the milk, sugar, and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is smooth and warm. (Do not bring the mixture to a boil.)
Add the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars and whisk occasionally for about 2 minutes or until all the chocolate pieces have melted and the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the vanilla. Divide evenly in mugs and top with whipped cream or marshmallows.
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
