Last night was a new one for me....You might have guessed by now that I like to cook. I also like to have guests partake in my culinary efforts. I have long entertained (pun intended) the idea that the physical pleasures of good food prepared and served with the right motivation and with the proper accompanying conversation, can raise the meal to a higher spiritual plane.
Louisa, a frequent participant in our Friday night meals, has been making noises for a long time that she would like to turn the tables and have a chance to cook for me. Well, it is well known by those who "know and love" Louisa that she goes after what she wants in a big way. Last night, Louisa came over to my house and before I knew it, she was master of my kitchen. She whipped out of her Mary Poppins-esque bag, delicious sourdough bread, two fresh whole branzini (fancy name for European Sea Bass), extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemons, rosemary, and various other goodies. It made me wish I hadn't eaten all day.
For after dinner entertainment, I was plunked down in front of a foreign film (I know, I know, my vision doesn't lend itself well to subtitles... but actually it wasn't too bad on the small screen) about a woman who uses her culinary abilities to uplift and heal a town.... (well, there's much more to it than that, but I'm still waiting for the full drasha on it from Louisa.....). The reviews call it "a powerful and poignant deptiction of what goodness, selflessness and generosity can bring to a community and to the individuals within it". Louisa isn't in to symbolism.... nah.... not much......
P.S. Guess who's got the "awesomest" fish salad for lunch today :D ?
12 comments:
Louisa is a good friend.
"She whipped out of her Mary Poppins-esque bag, delicious sourdough bread, two fresh whole branzini (fancy name for European Sea Bass), extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemons, rosemary, and various other goodies." Yum. What a description.
She's not just a good friend... last night I discovered she's a good cook too! (with somewhat "eclectic" taste in movies...)
Not as a good of a cook as my future spouse...it WAS pretty good fish, though...
Sounds like a great time!
"delicious sourdough bread, two fresh whole branzini (fancy name for European Sea Bass), extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemons, rosemary, and various other goodies"
Now we're talking! Rosemary seems a bit of a strong herb for fish, though, even for a full-flavored fish like sea bass. I'd probably go with fennel (use the fronds for the fish and slice the bulb thinly for a side salad), but what do I know? Also, no garlic? (I fully sympathize with bnei yisrael in this past week's parsha... I don't care how good the food tastes; if I don't have garlic, I'm gonna kvetch...)
Hmm, trying to think of cooking movies that I've seen: There's Ratatouille (you know you're a food nerd when, during the climatic action scene of a movie, you go "Oh! parchment paper to absorb steam and keep the veggies from getting soggy! Gotta remember that!" Yes, I still have the bruise on my ankle from The Lovely Wife[tm]'s kick), and Big Night (Stanley Tucci & Tony Shaloub as Italian brothers/ restaraunt owners).
She is akallah? Veyidgu LaRov...!
Finally one you can understand from BLD...
No, friend, NO GARLIC. That I do not use with baked fish - THAT would overwhelm the dish (though I love garlic - and had the fish not been so so fresh, I probably would have used it). Also, when you bake rosemary with fish, it just makes the fish sweet. You don't really taste the rosemary. I don't get it either - but it's something about fish. Baked Lecho Dodi - nice one!
efrex -
I forgot you are a foodie. I'm with you on the garlic thing, but I'm not a big fan of fennel.....
Oh, and btw, since it's right up your alley, I'll bet you're gonna love the new movie coming out about Julia Child.
mmmmmm hungry
She is a GREAT friend, a GREAT cook, and an AWESOME roommate!!! (Please note the use of her favorite adjective.)
Too bad she's already taken, it means that I cannot keep recommending her as an amazing catch, although I will make sure to remind him pretty regularly.
On a different note, was this REAL sourdough bread, like San Francisco sourdough, or was this some kind of east coast pretender?
The package did say San Francisco Sourdough - - - but what fo I know.... I'm just an "East Coast-er".... :D
I consider myself much more of a "food nerd" than a "foodie" (If I insisted on being called a "fooder," would that be too esoteric a reference?*) ... I like knowing about how food cooking works, I enjoy trying my hand in the lab, er, kitchen, and I enjoy going to a good restaurant and trying to figure out how the dish was prepared, but I don't really have particularly high-falutin' tastes, will occasionally acknowledge the existence and utility of garlic and onion powders and dried herbs, and will just as soon whip up some horrible Dagwood-esque sandwich when hungry as try to make something interesting.
As for the movie: I will certainly want to see it, but based on the trailer & publicity, I'm afraid that I'm going to be highly disappointed. I remember the original "Julie" blog, although I wasn't an avid follower, and the movie seems to want to make her into a sad sack who found her redemption through this project, rather than the quirky, foul-mouthed, blog persona. Child deserves to have a full-blown biopic in her own right (This is a person who, if you asked about her work with the CIA, would need to ask if you meant this one or this one), not be used as a foil for someone else's development. It does have a great creative team, though, so I'll wait and see.
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* Probably. If you really have nothing better to do, check out the "trekkie" vs. "trekker" debate amongst Start Trek afficianados.
Sounds great. Now this can be another way of showing how food isn't a mundane thing, but rather can be used for greatness and can become spiritual.
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