So as I try to bring my sea going adventures here from that before said site I was out walking with a friend today talking about food, well talking about a story I wrote last night (in my head of course) about a time when we were out picking chanterelles. The idea was that after picking enough to give away--often it is the journey, you have heard that before...--the reward was to find a nice log to sit on and enjoy the food we had brought.
This actually seems to be as important to me as the mushrooms, the hike, the companionship. I relayed a story of how the `best` sandwich in the world has occurred in my life on numerous occasions.
The first that I could remember was back in 1978. An early trek into a pond hours behind the town of bonavista found me labouring in the hot august sun as we finally found a pond to cast away. As we fished I opened my pack and rifled through quickly to find what we had for lunch.
I pulled out two turkey sandwiches, on simply home made bread, lathered with butter and mayo. The first bite told me that this was a moment. A tired and sticky 14 year old may have just found the moment, the one destined to shine later on in life as an appreciation of food in it's most simple design, and best flavour. Of course this time was fueled by hunger mainly and I knew nothing of the future other than getting a few trout and the hike back. That was then.
So, back to chanterelle picking. As we unpacked we began to talk about how to eat the salami that I had brought as there were three types each a little different in texture, content and flavour. It was this combination as I sliced very thin backward slabs with my pocket knife that I though really needed to be understood. Hot genoa, peppery and fatty, bresaola, a beefy mouthful, and a large piece of guanciale, a pig jowl, lightly cure and this one covered in crushed chiles and paprika from a small Italian shop by Ossington station in Toronto. I would use the last mostly for cooking but today thought it would be fun to each a few small bites in the woods.
We took small pieces and ate them slowly, trying to nuance the differences of each one. My friend the baker, pulled out a loaf of dark rye and we combined the meats with cream cheese and then I looked at him and said `best sandwich ever!`
I guess as I am still trying to figure out what to write I will just ramble like this and add pictures when I feel like it.
The first that I could remember was back in 1978. An early trek into a pond hours behind the town of bonavista found me labouring in the hot august sun as we finally found a pond to cast away. As we fished I opened my pack and rifled through quickly to find what we had for lunch.
I pulled out two turkey sandwiches, on simply home made bread, lathered with butter and mayo. The first bite told me that this was a moment. A tired and sticky 14 year old may have just found the moment, the one destined to shine later on in life as an appreciation of food in it's most simple design, and best flavour. Of course this time was fueled by hunger mainly and I knew nothing of the future other than getting a few trout and the hike back. That was then.
So, back to chanterelle picking. As we unpacked we began to talk about how to eat the salami that I had brought as there were three types each a little different in texture, content and flavour. It was this combination as I sliced very thin backward slabs with my pocket knife that I though really needed to be understood. Hot genoa, peppery and fatty, bresaola, a beefy mouthful, and a large piece of guanciale, a pig jowl, lightly cure and this one covered in crushed chiles and paprika from a small Italian shop by Ossington station in Toronto. I would use the last mostly for cooking but today thought it would be fun to each a few small bites in the woods.
We took small pieces and ate them slowly, trying to nuance the differences of each one. My friend the baker, pulled out a loaf of dark rye and we combined the meats with cream cheese and then I looked at him and said `best sandwich ever!`
I guess as I am still trying to figure out what to write I will just ramble like this and add pictures when I feel like it.
Comments
Post a Comment