For at least a year I’ve been meaning to write a heartfelt ode to The Supper of the Lamb, the best book about food I’ve ever read.

Robert Farrar Capon is the author, and he happens to be an Episcopal minister. (Or happened? I’m not even sure he’s alive. This book was published in 1969.) I am as surprised as you that I so love a book by a man of God.

But when somebody writes, in the course of discussing what kitchen implements are necessary (only a few) and which are not, “A woman with cleaver in mid-swing is no mere woman,” I can’t help but like the guy. And then there’s the whole interlude about why God loves you if you drink wine, and why boring people who carp about nutrition should never be invited to dinner. And this all paves the way to, I’m not kidding, me getting all teary-eyed on the subway when he talks about the beautiful treasure God has given us in the form of this world’s bounty. There’s also an amazing description of making strudel.

I know you’re not yet convinced you should read this book. I’m doing a horrible job of describing it. So how about this review on Amazon.com?

I grew up around Bob Capon. My father is also an Episcopal priest, and our families often got together to break bread…. Capon was one of the first “crazy” people I ever met. (I was around 9 years old.) I am a better person for it.

A “crazy” author. Strudel. Cleavers. Wine.

Oh, and of course the premise of the whole book: Lamb for Eight Persons Four Times.

This “recipe” is the basis for Capon’s meditation on the difference between “festal” and “ferial” dining, and how there’s great nobility in the day-to-day, thrifty cooking that we do, and should do more of, than the special-occasion dinners that break the bank and are just used to impress people.

To this end, he suggests a way to use a single leg of lamb to make dinner for eight people four whole times. Lots of wine and garlic are involved, and one dinner is a Chinese stir-fry, which is pretty adventurous for 1969. The whole leg-of-lamb strategy is drawn out over the course of the book, in between a million digressions.

Still, as much as I love this book and find myself nodding in utter rapture every time I read just a sentence or two, I’m still a wee bit skeptical of the whole premise of the 1 lamb / 8 X 4.

Which is why I’m going to use the minor lull in my schedule next week to put Capon’s recipes to the test, starting on Wednesday or Thursday. Along with the lamb, I need seven dinner guests four times, so speak up now, folks. For anyone who can’t make it, I really recommend you buy the book and follow along at home.

Can I get an amen?

Next posts in the series:
1L/8X4: The Prologue
1L/8X4: Prep for Night 1
1L/8X4 II(a): Night I Report
1L/8X4 II(b): The Freakin’ Spaetzle
1L/8X4 III: Night II Report
1L/8X4 IV: Night III Report
1L/8X4 V: Night IV Report, aka “Original Thinking Is Lonely”