A nasty cold, some culinary chit-chat, and a long overdue cookbook cull
I’ve been battling a mild version of the plague all week, so my energy levels and appetite have been about as low as the temperatures outside (-17°C today, with a blanket of snow over the lawn, pockmarked by the perambulations of various garden critters).
Despite my resulting lack of hunger, I did taste the best Swiss Gruyère of my life this week, bought on the last day before our beloved cheesemonger closed shop for good (sniff). I set it out at the end of a Sunday lunch, along with a wedge of exquisite blue from Québec and a gooey, cedar-wrapped round of triple-cream something-or-other, but, despite the serious competition on the cheeseboard, it was the Gruyère that took top prize. Each slice offered up such a bouquet of intoxicating aromas to the palate —alpine herbs, nuts, fruit, and flowers – that I was instantly transported up a mountaintop in my mind, imagining a breeze rippling through the grasses around the hooves of gentle Holsteins and carrying with it into the distance the melodic clang of cowbells. Astonishing what just one bite of truly good food can do for the imagination, wot?
Surely you’ve had similar experiences with foodstuffs before. Do share so we can all race out and try to get our hands on whatever it was that transported you in a bite.
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