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    Addict, desperately seeking

    Julia Hill
    Julia Hill


    Location | Ligging : All Around The World
    Posts | Bydraes : 151
    Points | Punte : 259
    Join date | Datum aangesluit : 2011-08-28
    Age | Ouderdom : 53

    Addict, desperately seeking Empty Addict, desperately seeking

    Post by Julia Hill Sat 03 Sep 2011, 4:48 pm

    I have had the pleasure of cooking for many varied people from all walks of life. One client that I remember most fondly was Mrs C ... she was very interesting, and better yet always knew exactly what she wanted. I would be called to a meeting where I would be greeted as she excited waved a copy of the recipe already chosen that I would be cooking - usually chosen from one of her Elizabeth David tomes. The recipe would have notes of what she wanted to change and try out. She didn't give a jot about the cost - for her it was about knowing that I would care enough to do exactly as she asked - no matter the outcome - she knew I would flout convention and joyfully construct or deconstruct her idea as required into a brand new dish (one of our recipes will follow in weeks to come)

    However that is not really what this is all about! Mrs C's greatest reward to me came not in the form of the cheque after serving one of these lazy (usually Sunday) lunches to goodness knows how many people ... but after when most of the guests had left and it was "polite" for her to leave the company she would pop into the kitchen, rummage around in the cupboard for the oldest, silver-est and heaviest coffee perculator I had ever seen. It was a little reminiscent of a Chinese tea ceremony somehow ... all dusted off she would put in the only the finest quality, freshly ground coffee beans, the water (and to my utter amazement the first time round) a thick slice of orange peel and a cinnamon stick (which you may think ordinary but trust me this is no over sweetened commercial coffee syrup number). It would be placed on top of the stove and we would idly chat about the lunch - we never had a flop and she was always so pleased which of course made me ready to fall in a dead faint of happiness Smile

    And so, the coffee brewed, would be poured into mugs, no sugar and no milk ... just as it was - dark, brooding, strong, pleasantly bitter. But where was the orange and cinnamon - ah there, soft and subtle at first but then the fragrance hit my tastebuds - yes - and escaped, steam rolling their way to my brain which imploded leaving me in a land of new foreign combinations of taste, smell and sense ... it was magic. I was lost, she too! And the chatter would die away leaving only room for quiet, soulful contemplation of flavours.

    I have never had coffee like it before or since those early days in Mrs C's kitchen and my saddest thought is that she no longer needs to entertain on large scale since her husbands retirement, however I live in hope of a birthday, an anniversary ...

    I have tried in vain on many occasions to recreate Mrs C's amazing brew, from such beautiful, humble and simple ingredients, but sadly I think it cannot be done! Her careful hand and that heavy, silver magic perculator are not mine.

      Current date/time is Fri 29 Mar 2024, 3:38 pm