EDitorial ± 15-Dec-2003
Leave It To Harry
Then, rifling through various unmarked VHS tapes the other night, I popped one in the machine, hit the triangle, and The Ipcress File began to play. The first three minutes show the brain drain in action as a chap who's been reading The New Scientist disappears on board a train. Cut to the sound of Harry Palmer's alarm clock.
Once he's found his trademark specs, what does he do? He puts the kettle on, fetches a tin of coffee beans, grinds a small amount, and puts a couple of spoonfuls into, you've guessed it, a cafetiere! And this is 1965!
First, get your beans | Put a handful in the grinder | |
Grind while still half asleep | Next, grab your cafetiere | |
Add water, slightly off the boil | Allow to brew, then plunge | |
Pour ... | ... and enjoy! |
Granted he's meant to be a gourmet, not unlike Len Deighton, who wrote the book. And there's talk that one of the film executives did a deal with the manufacturers of the cafetiere to promote it. Plus Len's hands make their own appearance when breaking a couple of eggs, since Caine couldn't do this.
Even so, a cafetiere nearly 40 years ago — bodum's up!
Be seeing you!