BOOK/A TABLE - Gorgonzola Bread

Perhaps one of the most arduous treks in literature, Leopold Bloom’s journey in Ulysses by James Joyce, which roughly follows The Odyssey, takes place only in a single day.

I’m sure you know that sometimes during a long trip, a fella’s gotta eat. In the midst of Bloom’s meanderings through Dublin, loose under ‘the heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit,’ he stops in for a quick bite at a pub. 

“A cheese sandwich, then. Gorgonzola, have you?” Bloom asks, humorously paralleling Odysseus’ battle with the Gorgons in The Odyssey.

If only he’d hastened to Hoexters for something more substantial, such as their Gorgonzola Bread, dripping with an absolutely luscious garlic gorgonzola cream bechamel!

Should you not be able to make your own journey to visit Hoexter’s on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, I’ve included a recipe below to try at home. Or follow the recipe here for a simple bechamel and spruce it up with garlic and the pungent cheese that Leopold Bloom craved.

Gorgonzola Garlic Bread

Adapted from life-in-the-lofthouse.com

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread
1/3 cup salted butter softened
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 Tablespoon freshly chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
Slice French bread into 8 slices. Lay each slice on a baking sheet. Set aside.
Cream butter and Gorgonzola cheese together in a medium bowl.
Stir in minced garlic and chopped parsley to cheese mixture.
Spread mixture evenly over each French bread slice.
Sprinkle tops with a little Parmesan cheese.
Place under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly. (*Stay and watch the entire time to prevent burning!)

Thanks to Hoexter's for the photo!