As Thoreau had it "
Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify!" There is something to be said for fritters (anything fried is good after all) so long as they are not filled with
Spam. We used to get Spam fritters for school dinner and even then, as a starveling, I knew there was something wrong about the inside of those things. So let's concentrate on the simplify, simplify. I thought about this as I tucked into a humble supper after the
slap-up feed that marked the end of term at The Institute. Even having opted for the goat's-cheese quiche at lunch, there was a lot more saturated animal fat than I'm used to at lunchtime. I felt this in spades last night after a traditional Irish Christmas meal mid-afternoon. When you have three generations of competent cooks there is likely to be more food than can be consumed at one sitting. And when it is
all mmmm so good, it's very hard to hold back. So there were a couple of hours between dessert and bedtime when I felt like a hyena (
Crocuta crocuta) who has scarfed down so much gazelle (
Eudorcas thomsonii) that he just can't move. But that feeling passed in time for cold ham&pickle sandwiches to help make bearable watching Morecombe & Wise and Stephen Fry on the telly.. The humble supper, alluded to earlier and thinner, was caldo verde: a soup I came to relish during my
walk up the coast of Portugal in 1989. (Almost) nothing to it:
- water água
- potatoes batatas
- kale couve manteiga
- onion cebola
- smoked sausage lingüiça calabresa defumada
- olive oil azeite
After trogging 20km a day along the beaches and cliffs of the Atlantic coast, often I was only capable of slumping into a seat and croaking "caldo verde pelo amor de deus". Because everyone has it on the menu, it was always available and always piping hot. After half a bowl of this, my equanimity (and my manners) would generally return and I was ready to order a glass of wine and a plate of carne de porco assada or bacalhau à brás. But several times, the caldo verde was so damned good I just ordered up another plate of it, and devil take the glances from the staff at the restaurant. Also note that the sausage can be a tiny fraction of the whole, only a little more than the dash of salt&pepper; just enough to lift the whole dish to heaven. I'm with Thomas Jefferson on this, a man who ate meat only “
as a condiment to the vegetables which constitute my principal diet.”
But you don't want to get doctrinaire about diet, particularly not at Christmas.
Pass the ham, please.
Our
life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! - See
more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/36353/#sthash.eGWjNb0v.dpuf
Our
life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! - See
more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/36353/#sthash.eGWjNb0v.dpuf
Our
life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! - See
more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/36353/#sthash.eGWjNb0v.dpuf
Our
life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! - See
more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/36353/#sthash.eGWjNb0v.dpuf
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