Good old Chubby Hubby tagged me with this meme the other day and I have been pondering it ever since. 5 things that you should eat before you shuffle off this mortal coil. It's a tall order. You reach your 3 score years and ten, you look back on your life as the nurse turns off the machine and walks away. I hope my last thought is "..nice arse..." not " I really should have had that dessert at Quaglino's in 1997", before the sun darkens and I'm off to meet the boatman. Having said that, the girlfriend gave me a birthday card the other day (yes, it was my birthday, she's not quite that odd) which read "Life is Short. Eat as much as you can", which I suppose is as good a philosophy as I have ever come across with regards to getting though this life.
So what to say with regards to this puzzle? Well, it could be specific things, made by specific people, but I'm not very good at that sort of thing. So I've taken a slightly different tack (with one obvious exception).
1) Something you have grown yourself.
I think you shouldn't go through life without the satisfaction that comes from growing something; tending it, caring for it, getting annoyed when it is patently dying and then the elation when you realise the cats been weeing in it and the miraculous recovery it makes once you have given the cat a good kick. I never had myself down as much of a gardener. My father would grow vast triffid like plants in our garden and then subject us all to the horrors of his foul smelling caldo gallego, which frankly was enough to put anyone off garden grown vegetables. As the years have passed I have become more and more inclined to grow stuff, get dirt under my fingernails and smell the fresh clean earth. I'll be posting about my prize marrows and comedy carrots in about 5 years at this rate. Kill me when I do.
2) Something you have killed.
A bit of a follow on from the above, but I figure if you are a meat eater of any sort you should be prepared to deal with the consequences of your carnivorous ways. I have posted on this subject before (I can't remember where, go root around my archives and give me a shout if you find it) and I still feel quite strongly about it. Of course, it's pretty hard to raise a pig in a 1930's mansion flat in south London or chickens in your swanky San Francisco loft warehouse meat packing double height ceiling condo thingys (I can't help but feel I got that wrong). Catching and eating a fish is enough, or shooting a rabbit or grouse or something. As long as it goes in the pot, that's ok. If you're doing it for sport and no one is eating, join the army and pick on someone your own size.
3) The Roast Marrow Bone and Parsley Salad at St Johns, London.
Ok, Antony Bourdain has waxed lyrical about this enough. It is his deathrow meal. It probably isn't mine, my mum's ragu is too good for that, but it is fucking excellent.
4) Food made by people you have watched grow up.
I haven't got any kids right now, but I have cooked for my mum and it has given her great pleasure. The joy I have in watching nephews, nieces and godchildren eat well would probably magnified a hundred fold if they turned round and executed a perfect souffle some time in the next 20 years.
5) Scrambled eggs with freshly shaved truffle on your own.
Stolen secret moments of pleasure, the simple joy of eating something very good on your own with no one watching. Nothing but you and the dish. Feel free to replace with whatever gets you off.
and I couldn't resist an extra one...
6) A single perfect egg of caviar from the lip of a lover whose lip is chilled by ice cold vodka.
'Nuff said. It takes a bit of engineering but hell, it's worth it and in the words of the late great Oliver Reed, " A guaranteed leg opener".
I'm going to tag:
5 comments:
I agree that eating something you have killed gives you much greater appreciation for your food. A close second is eating meat with the head still attached.
Sexy post! Much sexier than belly dancing.
I don't suppose mussels,clams and oysters really count as 'something you've killed yourself,' do they?
I look forward to the day I can afford to go on a proper shoot and get my own rabbit!
i love food made for me by my niece too.
unfotunately my lover has an aversion to everything fish so i cant have fun with your extra curricular idea.
he likes vodka though so maybe i could do something with that.
I came here because Melissa appended "and one more I'll let you read on his site!" to your five entries on her list. What a fantastic sixth entry! One of mine was sturgeon caviar, but you really took it to the next level.
Guess I'll have to try that, eh.
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