Há 51 anos: O histórico show no Hyde Park com borboletas

51 years ago a historic event with butterflies in Hyde park London

Doesn´t time fly when you are enjoying yourself. I just realised that it was  51 years ago this month.I should really have posted this hommage a year ago when it would have marked its 50th anniversary.
 The year is 1969. I was a youthful 17.It was summer in England.Saturday the 5th July, It was very hot.I absconded from boarding school in Yorkshire and made the 175 mile pilgrimage to the capital under cover of darkness to join other young teenagers, like myself ,who were  mourning the death of Rolling Stone Brian Jones (guitarist and founder of the Stones) who had died two days previously.

 I was just one of 500,000 mourning fans crammed into Hyde Park to attend an iconic piece of pop history.A free concert by the Rolling Stones.With a collection of other bands, this iconic event  helped to define UK youth culture in the late 1960s.
The former Stones bandleader, Brian Jones, had tragically died just two days previously and Jagger, alongside his band, dedicated the reading of Percy Shelley’s Adonais before beginning their mammoth set. It culminated in the release of thousands of white butterflies and marked a fitting tribute to their former bandmate.
Before they began to play, Mick Jagger fought back the tears and performed Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Adonais in tribute to his friend. When he had finished reading the heart-wrenching poem, 3,500 Pieris brassicae white butterflies were released onto the audience in homage to Jones as the group performed ‘I’m Yours and I’m Hers’.

“Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep —
He hath awakened from the dream of life —
‘Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep
With phantoms an unprofitable strife,
And in mad trance, strike with our spirit’s knife
Invulnerable nothings. — We decay
Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief
Convulse us and consume us day by day,
And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.

The One remains, the many change and pass;
Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity,
Until Death tramples it to fragments. — Die,
If thou wouldst be with that which thou dost seek!
Follow where all is fled!”

 

51 years on I wanted to celebrate this incredible day. To mark this I have created an original recipe with farfalle pasta, taking as my base a garlicky Alfredo sauce and tossing the farfalle and chicken in it.I’ve eschewed the authentic “no cream” Alfredo for a reliable take on this classic that’s just as creamy, garlic-rich, and fun to slurp up as it was originally intended to be.

Alfredo is a creamy, dreamy pan sauce made from butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. There are a few additions and adaptations that exist.However unlike béchamel — another classic sauce — Alfredo is best made and eaten straight away.Grab some pasta, cream, Parmesan, and a few chicken breasts when you are out shopping and you’ll probably have everything else you need on hand. On lazy summer weeknight,this conjured up memories of such an impressive day.

"Butterflies in the park" with Alfredo
120g farfalle
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 250g)
1 teaspoon Flor de sal
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup whipping cream
Finely grated Parmesan cheese (60g), plus more for serving
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 
 
Season the chicken breast with olive oil salt and pepper and roast in the oven (220C) for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Slice the chicken and cover to keep warm. Transfer the chicken to a plate or clean cutting board and let rest for 3 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Cook the pasta, drain, and reserve cooking water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farfalle and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
Melt the rest of the butter and sauté the garlic. Add the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter to the same pan used for the chicken and place over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Make the Alfredo sauce. Whisk in the mascarpone,cream, parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and  pepper. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta cooking water, a few tablespoons at a time, to thin it out.
Add the drained pasta and toss to coat in the sauce. Add the drained fettuccine to the sauce and toss to coat. Divide the pasta among serving bowls and top with a few slices of chicken. Garnish with parsley, more Parmesan, and black pepper if desired.garnish with some minted garden peas or parsley dust to finish off the green of the park.