Mr. Castevet came in, holding in both hands a small tray on which four cocktail glasses ran over with clear pink liquid. “Mr. Woodhouse? A Vodka Blush. Have you ever tasted one? They’re very popular in Australia,” Mr. Castevet said. He took the final glass and raised it to Rosemary and Guy. “To our guests,” he said. “Welcome to our home.”

The Vodka Blushes were tart and very good.

The above quote comes from the novel of Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin.  Roman Polanski turned the novel into a classic horror film of the same name in 1968.  Here’s me joining in the toast with Rosemary, Guy and their neighbours, The Castavets. Unfortunately,  due to lockdown rules, I can’t welcome anyone into my home at the moment.  But I can toast absent friends.  So when I raised my glass, not only was it to join in the fun of the movie, but also to Jenny of Silver Screen Suppers because, despite being many miles apart we are doing a recipe collab around Rosemary’s Baby!

Opening Credits – The Vodka Blush

The film opens with an unseen woman singing what sounds like a creepy lullaby over city street noise and these gorgeous hot pink credits!  Believe me when I say that there is barely a second of this film that has not been poured over by film critic and fan alike – even the credits have been their own article!

I chose to begin my Collab with the paler pink of a vodka blush and utterly agree with the phrase that they were tart and very good!  Sweet / sour is one of my favourite flavour profiles so the Vodka Blush suited my tastes perfectly!  And it was so pretty as well.  I added a little sprig of Rosemary to mine for obvious reasons!

You can find the recipe for a vodka blush here.  It is really easy to make – just three ingredients!

Act Two – Rosemary’s Baby Plot And Mia Farrow’s Yoghurt Gazpacho

Rosemary’s Baby centres around a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse (played by John Cassavetes and Mia Farrow) who we initially meet searching for a new apartment in New York.  They decide to rent an apartment in the Bramford building despite it having a dark past.  They move in and Rosemary sets about decorating the apartment. (For an in-depth description of the inside of the apartment, click here). 

Guy and Rosemary meet their neighbours, an older couple, The Castevet’s who invite them round for dinner and vodka blushes.  Despite being initially reluctant to go, Guy hits it off with Roman Castevets and starts spending more time with him.   Rosemary has no such feelings about Minnie Castevets and even though you can tell she is too polite to say so, is annoyed when Minnie and friend pop over unannounced.  Minnie gives Rosemary Terry’s pendant, a supposed good luck charm containing a stinky substance called “tannis root”. 

Guy who had been up until then a bit part actor lands a leading role when the man who was going have the lead goes blind.  Buoyed by his good fortune Guy and Rosemary go full steam ahead with their plans to start a family.  On the night Rosemary is ovulating, the couple are having a romantic dinner when Minnie brings over some “Chocolate mouse”.  Rosemary eats very little of it but almost immediately starts to feel very ill and passes out. 

During this time she has a “dream” in which she is a raped by a demon while Guy, the Castevets and their friends watch on.  She wakes up covered in scratches.  Guy laughs off her concern saying he didn’t want to miss out on baby-making night (this scene is so gross and really cements out view of Guy as a self-centred narcissist not to mention rapist!).  

Shortly thereafter Rosemary discovers she is pregnant and here her nightmare begins.  Her pregnancy is not easy – she is losing weight and in constant pain.  Rosemary then comes to believe that the building is the home to a coven of witches lead by Roman Castevets. She becomes increasingly suspicious of Guy wondering if he is also in league with them. 

Rosemary tries to run away but Guy and Doctor Sappirstein track her down.  They return to the apartment and she goes into labour.  When she awakes she is told that the baby was stillborn.  However, over the following days she starts to hear a baby crying in the Casavet’s apartment.  She picks up a knife and sneaks into the apartment to find Guy, the Castevets and other members of the coven gathered around a bassinet over which hangs an inverted cross.  Guy confesses that in return for fame he gave the child to Satan who is, in fact, the baby’s father.  

Through all of this Mia Farrow as Rosemary is luminous.  She is so beautiful (even when she is meant to be looking gaunt and ill) and her clothing throughout is pitch-perfect!  More on the clothes can be found here.  

Also pitch-perfect is the recipe Jenny sent me for Mia Farrow’s yoghurt gazpacho!  I adore Gazpacho but had never tried one with yoghurt before.  It was delicious.  So refreshing and would be perfect for a hot summer’s day.  The gazpacho is so tasty and the yoghurt so soothing that I made it again a few days later when I had a stomach ache!  Confession – I ate so much of the gazpacho I could barely eat the second course!  But that just meant more leftovers.  Also, the recipe calls for parsley which I added for the OG version.  The second time I made it, I only had basil so I added that instead.  It changed the flavour but was also delicious!  

The Final Act – John Cassavetes Minted Meatballs and Spooky Tales about Rosemary Baby

Jenny also sent me the recipe for John Cassavetes Minted Meatballs.  Before we get to them, you cannot believe the problems I have had writing Cassavetes and Castevets in the same post.  I don’t think I have written it correctly ONCE.  

I was quite prepared to hate these meatballs based solely on the fact that John Cassavetes character in Rosemary Baby’s is such a tremendous arsehole.  I’ll hand it to him though.  The meatballs were good.  I ate mine on cheesy bread.  I had filled myself up on three glasses of the gazpacho by the time I got to the meatballs so I only ate two on the night but they heated up really well for lunch during the week.

The mint was really tasty in these.  I am thinking that the next time I make these, I will use lamb instead of beef because mint and lamb go so well together.  What I liked best about these meatballs though was, as they cooked, the grains of rice started to poke out, making them look like little spiky sea urchins in a sea of to tomato sauce!

And now here are some weird facts about Rosemary’s Baby – which has been called ” the most cursed hit movie ever made”.

• Krzysztof Komeda, the composer fell off a cliff at a party and suffered terrible head injuries.  He was in a coma for four months before passing away (incidentally the same fate that befalls Rosemary’s friend Hutch in the film).
• The year after the release of Rosemary’s Baby, Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson family. 
• The Manson Family wrote “Helter Skelter”‘ in blood on the walls of the Tate crime scene.
• Helter Skelter is a song off The Beatles The White Album.  Mia Farrow was in attendance for at least part of the recording of the White Album.  The Beatles song Dear Prudence is about her sister. 
• The Bramford Building is, in reality, the Dakota Building.  MArk Chapman shot John Lennon to death outside this same building on 8 December 1980.

Little bit spooky no?

Huge thanks to Jenny for the recipes and for joining in !!! It is always nice to collab on something and this one was well and truly a breath of fresh air during lockdown!  You can read about her experiences with Rosemary’s Baby here!  Oh, and I hope she won’t mind me sharing this photo which was of Jenny doing her Vincent Price impersonation.  I will always think of it as the Rosemary’s Baby picture now! 

Have a great week and stay safe!