a mixed bag of events, food, people, streetlife and travel.
A Blade of Grass
Metaphorical-
Philosophical-
Full of life.
Dew drop,
rested overnight,
silently melts away.
Sharp enough,
to split the rays,
into a million colours.
Danced
to the wings
of a dragonfly.
Day is done.
Shakes
and gone.
Metaphorical;
Philosophical;
Full of life.
Anticipation grows in the shores of Hidd fishing port, north-east of Bahrain.
But the air is kept light with smiles and laughs.
Amazing to see how the human spirits could soar so high on a long, hot summer day.
Weather-beaten faces perfectly blending with the day’s hard work.
And then someone sees the boat approaching from the seas.
Somehow they know it was a good catch indeed.
Blue Swimming Crabs are wild caught from seas around Bahrain by using traps.
A boat carries 6 to 8 crates of freshly netted Blue Crabs.
After a quick rinse, the crates are brought ashore.
Experienced eyes picks few bad ones and promptly removes them.
Dilip and his team effortlessly moves in sync as a well-rehearsed drill.
Rest are chilled with crushed iced, ready to be transported to the factory in refrigerated trucks.
The cluster portion of the crab with claw and legs untrimmed is the final product that carries a shelf-life of up to 2 years.
“We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.”
– Lao Tzu
The Potter, a man in his forties,
sat there on the wooden, tall stool
by a table
with a shapeless lump of clay.
Smiling.
He had a few kids and their parents as his audience.
Wide-eyed kids.
I’ve-seen-it-all-eyed parents.
Deep inside,
the parents wanted to mould the clay as much as their kids.
But
being elder to the kids, they appeared to show more restraint
and even scolded the kids for their impatience.
Potter smiled.
While his fingers and palm
moved around the wet clay,
and the people thought of how relaxed the man was,
his legs were tirelessly working.
Pushing the heavy flywheel
under the table
that held the platform
that rotated
the clay…
I wondered
how many kids must have seen the hard work
of the legs
that is needed for a clay pot?
Potter continued to smile.
Perhaps he could listen to everyone’s thoughts…
Grilling must be the most healthiest way to cook meat.
Most fun comes from the charcoal grill outdoors.
Once in a while, it can be emulated indoors.
Family love it. Friends love it.
Above all, the chef loves it.
It all begins with pre-soaking the bamboo skewers in water.
And the grill pan scrubbed and washed with no soap.
Then comes the marinade.
Finally, the preparation of meats.
Tandoor-prawns.
Tandoori Masala could be brought from the store.
But only a few would dare to make their own Tandoori mix from scratch.
And that’s what happened.
Chicken thighs were chosen over breast.
A sharpest boning knife made the job of separating the meat from the bone enjoyable.
In grilling, the marinade is most crucial for the taste.
In this case, both the prawns and the chicken were marinated for between 4-5 hours in the refrigerator.
Mildly flavoured meat (could be sea-food) threaded in soaked bamboo skewers.
Seasoned cast-iron grill pan heated to over 420 deg F on a stove-top.
Quote If it does not sizzle, then you are not grilling unquote.
Thrill of the sizzle awaits.
Time spent on seasoning the grill pan paid off well.
No sticking.
No panic.
Grilling was never been so easy.
There is a secret
to grilling: oil.
Sparingly use oil to smear the grilling pan surface,
occasionally.
Another secret…
is to let the meat char a little.
This must be done extra-carefully
as the chances of meat getting dry is high.
Prawns were the most tricky.
So much easier to turn them into rubber-washers (from the chef’s own experience)
than to get them just-succulent-right.
But for someone who got an innate ability to cook, all comes naturally.
Skewers were all arranged in the plate.
The sight was indeed impressive.
In our house, the food does not last till plating process.
Skewers were all emptied in a blink.
Grilling indoors is tiring.
But when you see the food vanish at the speed of lightning,
that magic itself is enough to make you go through the hardships again,
and again.
Cooking is rewarding.
What’s for dinner?
As in whats|for|dinn|er|
Typical question on a weekend.
Mostly the dinner is cooked by me at home during the weekend.
Therefore it is not surprising that the family awaits dinnertime, on a weekend.
(Ed: Well, that may seem like a tall statement but then you have not tasted my cooking, have you?).
Apart from cooking being a passion, the time spend in creating a dish based solely on a recipe distracts one from most other complexities of life. Someone’s passion could well be another’s chore.
First question.
Meat? Lamb? Chicken? Fish?
Answer: Fish.
Which fish?
Silence.
Yes, the family sometimes think too.
White-meat fishes are often mild in their flavour.
Sole is a good example.
Local favourite Hamour-e Khaldar-e Qahvei (or simply, Hamour: the Brown-spotted Reef Cod) is another.
But John Dory is what got caught in the net.
So the choice of fish was settled.
A Dory doesn’t have a strong fishy smell.
Note: Some photographs follow the write-up.
Next question…
Grilling? Poaching? Baking? Pan-fry?
Grilling would be harsh on a Dory.
Poaching would be too subtle.
Pan-fry would be good to try.
Finally, settled for Baking.
Now for the recipe.
Salt & Pepper Fish was the first choice.
The simplicity of the recipe was in fact a deterrent to me.
Less room to play around.
Looked for more options.
Did not have to go far.
Limón!
Lemon always gave that great tasting result with white-meat fishes.
Added Lemon and fresh, flat-leaf Parsley to the list.
Accompaniment to Dory?
Mashed Potatoes was the unanimous favourite of the family.
A silence fell when the discussion moved on to the greens.
Vegetables, I mean.
No movement.
No enthusiasm.
Quite understandable.
Had to choose it myself.
Mangetouts.
How about some Mushrooms?
Yesss….
Some movement there.
People love mushrooms for their own reasons.
Thus the dinner menu was agreed upon.
John Dory baked with Lemon and Parsley in extra virgin Olive oil
seasoned with sea-salt and ground black pepper.
Sautéed Mushrooms and Mangetouts
served with mildly creamed silk-smooth Mashed Potatoes.
Little extra virgin Olive oil. Lemon juice. Sea-salt and ground black Pepper. Sprinkle once-chopped fresh flat-leaf Parsley. Bake for 20 minutes in an oven heated to 170C. Check for flaking with a fork.
Combined taste of slightly salty Mashed Potatoes and Dory was exquisite. Sautéed Mangetouts were so crunchy that the dining room reverberated with the sound. Mushrooms with a dash of dark soy-sauce added a different dimension to its flavour. A fillet of Dory was pan-fried indeed.
Dinner was served.
Few minutes into the ritual,
some asked for more potatoes.
Others, Dory.
Mushrooms disappeared in no time.
Only a few Mangetouts were left in their bowl.
All the dinner plates got emptied quick.
What else an ordinary cook like me could possibly ask for?
Located in the waterfront near the Marina Club, Diplomatic Area, National Museum is one of the popular monuments with visitors. A few hundred meters away resides the newly built National Theatre. Exhibitions and cultural talks see the National Museum as its venue attracting the art lovers of Bahrain and from neighbouring countries. The entrance leads to a vast hall almost covered with the sharp aerial photograph of Bahrain.
A complete detailed visit could easily take about half-a-day. Exhibits are meticulously labelled in Arabic and English.
Visual Islamic Art excludes the depiction of realistic human and animal figures. Geometric patterns that transform one to another world often become the focus of attraction. Precise reasons for geometric pattern becoming so central in Islamic decoration remain intriguing to many minds. Predominance of aniconism within monotheistic Abrahamic religions could well be a clue towards an understanding of the prominence of such patterns.
While geometric patterns that are simple and pleasing to the viewer dominate Islamic art, calligraphy and the minimum usage of foliage patterns of the arabesque (Islamic biomorphic patterns are usually called arabesques) can be seen within private spaces of homes and palaces.
The need to defend the unique status of God’s position as the ultimate power holder against idols, which were seen as threat to the uniqueness, led to the spread of the practice of aniconic art.
Geometric patterns make up one of the major nonfigural types of decoration in Islamic art; other two being Calligraphy and subtle vegetal patterns. The extreme complexity of geometric patterns within Islamic art is generated from such simple forms as the circle and the square. These simple patterns are combined, duplicated, interlaced and arranged in intricate patterns extending almost infinitely.
Reiteration of Qur’an implies that the divine nature of God is experienced through the divine word. Therefore, the absence of icons within a mosque is justified. However, the words of Qur’an is often extensively depicted on the walls and ceilings of mosques, palaces and homes giving rise to the rich traditions of Islamic calligraphy as an elevated form of architectural decoration.
Calligraphy manages to combine a geometric discipline with a dynamic rhythm. In the Islamic world it takes the place of iconography, being widely used in the decorative schemes of buildings. Seen below is a benign wording written in Arabic.
Vegetal ‘arabesque’ compositions are as common in Islamic decoration as geometric patterns. Similar to the geometric patterns, these are found across a wide range of mediums from illustrations in books to plaster work both interior and exterior and even in carpets and textiles. Leaves and climbers are the closest one can find in this kind of art form as the depiction of any creation with a soul is forbidden.
The basic shapes, or “repeat units,” from which the more complicated patterns are constructed are: circles and interlaced circles; squares or four-sided polygons; the ubiquitous star pattern, ultimately derived from squares and triangles inscribed in a circle; and multisided polygons. It is clear, however, that the complex patterns found on many objects include a number of different shapes and arrangements, allowing them to fit into more than one category. The basic shapes are then repeated in many ways – the process known as tessellation – to create complex patterns that are so simple at its core. A tesselation is a decoration of a two-dimensional plane using the repetition of a geometric shape with no overlaps and no gaps; generally it can be extended infinitely in all directions.
Muqarnas (system of niches and projected ‘stalactites’, used as a transitional and decorative device in architecture), Mishkah (niche for a lamp), Lazo or Band-i-rumi (interlaced geometrical pattern) are some of the unique characteristics within Islamic art.
Other than stone, brick, wood and paper, stucco or plaster was widely used in Islamic Art. Plaster, a singularly useful material that lent itself to moulding and carving in a variety of ways, became a staple of Islamic architecture. Perhaps because of its plasticity as a medium it was less frequently used for purely geometric designs, and was more often used in vegetal-arabesque arrangements.
Stained or coloured glasses are used to create a heavenly experience within homes, palaces or places of worship. Designs the permit sunlight in the morning hours to enter the room from outside while providing a beautiful window view to an observer from outside during night time was mesmerising. The glass comes in four basic colours: red, blue, green and yellow. Movement of coloured patterns with the sun from dawn to dusk creates a dynamic ambience within the living space. Glasses are also used to decorate ceiling lanterns or wall lamps.
That the intricacies of infinite geometric patterns starts from a simple straight line, a point and a circle is perhaps the most unbelievable fact in the entire gamut of this marvellous form of art.
Geographically, the beautiful island of Bahrain may be small. But the cultural and artistic events happening within its confines hosted by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities – BACA – and other organisations, are many.
BACA itself organises several events throughout the year. Festivals and Annual Activities includes Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, where space, colours, imagination and boundaries merge; Bahrain Summer, the journey of musical to theatrical; Ta’a Al Shabab, a month-long event involving youth in culture; Bahrain International Music Festival, an expression of musical talent from home and abroad; Spring of Culture, an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences and learn about the intellectual underpinnings of different nations and Heritage Festival, taking the people from now to then.
Though the various events fall in the same time of the year, the themes keep changing. This year’s Food is Culture event had Bahrain National Museum as the venue. Confluence of the minds of Chefs and Artists was the theme. MyRefractions visited one such event during the month of January 2017.
Meeting with Chef Brian and Chef Pierre was the highlight. The chocolate palm tree was the pièce de résistance of the evening.
Date palms represented Middle-Eastern culture around the world. A drive through the palm-laned road leading towards the magnificent Ritz-Carlton hotel in itself is a memorable experience. Imagine a date palm that snaps at your touch, made with the most delicious, just-sweet, nutty, creamy and melt-in-mouth dark chocolate with real Dates. That was the experience presented by the Executive Chef Brian of re Asian Cuisine and Head Chef at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant “CUT” both at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain whose culinary inspiration began in his grandmother’s kitchen, and Pierre, professional Pastry Chef at Wolfgang Puck’s “CUT” restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain, whose love of pastries comes as an artistic medium which fuels his passionate creations and the Artist Somaya Abdulghani who is specialised in photography, collage and mixed media, seeking to promote Islam’s enlightening nature by creating rhythmic and organic patterns that combine forms of Islamic art.
In a higher conceptual level, one would find it hard to separate the space of cooking and that of art.
The passionate audience had a casual enjoyable time interacting with the Chefs and the Artist. They also relished the chocolate palm tree and made it vanish into thin air within minutes much to the delight of the Chefs and the Artist who created it.
The event brought to surface the complexities within the intermingling of the two seemingly different worlds… and a treat for the palate and the mind of the discerning intellect.
Highway leading to Budaiya, the venue of Farmers’ Market 2017, got slower from almost a mile away. Typical of any event. Almost all the vehicles carried families with children. After finding a parking nearby, the place was a short walk away. It was a sunny and pleasant Saturday in January. Mild breeze among the many date palms lining the tiled walkways carried smell of vegetables. The botanical gardens in Budaiya, maintained by the Agriculture Ministry, hosted the Farmers’ Market as it did for past several years. Photographs were shot randomly while walking around the market…
A mild climate conducive of growing vegetables in Bahrain starts from October typically. However, the summer lingered on till late November in 2016 and the weather turned mild towards mid- to end-December. Christmas really felt like that in Brisbane; warm. Farmers’ Market in Bahrain usually started in early December and lasts till the first few months of the following year. All Saturdays of the month, from 8 AM till 12 noon, Budaiya gets some extra action.
Breakfast Corner (actually it is an open space) visit was top on the list. Not that we three were hungry. The idea of tasting some authentic Bahraini food always appealed to us. Fresh vegetables were so appealing that from the moment we saw the first stall, the shutter was relentlessly moving up and down (or was it sideways? Should have paid more attention during the many photography workshops attended.) Tomatoes, Cauliflowers, Pumpkins, Chillies, Zucchinis, Cucumbers, all those leafy vegetables – that the family doctor always reminded to consume more, Beetroots, Bell Peppers, to name more than a few. Mint led the list of herbs. Those on sale were so fresh and untouched so unlike what is sold by the regular stores that it seemed to have made just for decoration and not for cooking.
Flowering plants were on sale. Hyacinths and Pansies were more popular. Geraniums were rare. Bougainvilleas scattered themselves among others. As we walked forward, the air began to smell of waffles. Waffles would have been a complete misfit in such an atmosphere. We followed the waffles that led us to a stall where several people – women and children mostly – patiently waited for their turn to collect their favourite snack: pan-baked bread. Thin, crunchy, mildly sweet made up of batter.
The best part of the Farmers’ Market was not the display of the local produce. It is about the people and the smile on their face. Met several families that included expatriates and the local ones. Business was casual with occasional bargaining (well, no one ever bargained in a super market) and tasting of the fresh produces.
Stall owners found time to chat about their farms in different parts of Bahrain. 17 years of stay made it almost possible to locate many. Children played as the sun rose while other wide-eyed ones kept wondering about the many colours of vegetables. From red, green, yellow and purple that is grown in their own Bahrain.
Weekends are cooking days. Sometimes the daughter joins in but mostly it is alone.
Bahrain feels like the best-of-Europe with it’s mild weather. While sunny and bright in the day time, the temperature stays at around 12-14 deg C. The weather was never lovelier before than today.
Rib-eye Steak with Mushroom Sauce served with Mashed Potatoes and crisp, sautéed Mangetouts for the lunch.
Thai Green Seafood curry with Jasmine Rice for dinner.
[Ed: Those posts are for another day].
But the highlight of the day was Moroccan Almond Cookies or Ghriba.
The sweet from Marrakesh took everyone by storm.
Most of the dishes tried at home were tried before in a restaurant or at a baker’s.
Ghriba was an exception. Came to learn about the sweet from a beautiful blog in WordPress https://thetaste0flife.wordpress.com/
Ghriba is something unlike any of the sweets.
It does not use any flour (wheat or rice, eg.)
Sites those talked about Ghriba mentioned the Moroccan Mint Tea that goes well with the sweet.
[Ed: Forgotten to make mint tea, by the way].
Almonds eggs caster sugar lemon zest lemon juice almond extract orange blossom water.
The taste was much beyond the realms of any sweet tried so far.
Started off with zesting the lemon after keeping the oven to heat-up to the required temperature of 350F (180C).
Prepared the baking tray with parchment paper and kept aside.
Almond flour and sugar were then blended in a food-processor briefly.
Baking powder, vanilla extract, almond flavour, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest were whisked in.
Egg yolks were then added to the above mixed using fingers taking care not to knead towards bread consistency. However, as the four eggs were added, the dough was bit like a bread dough.
Added less caster sugar though the recipe asked 125 gm as the cookies are going to be rolled on icing sugar before baking.
Baked at 350 deg F just till cooked… a cookie unlike any cookie. Inside the oven, the cookies began to crack about 12 minutes into the baking process.
The oven was switched off soon after the cookies started to crack.
Rest of the baking happened in the subsiding heat and for about 18 minutes.
Final note:
Mildly crunchy outside and soft,chewy inside, the Ghriba was loved instantly at first bite. There sure is a lot of room for excelling and the pursuit of excellence makes the baking process more challenging and therefore enjoyable.
Reviews say that the cookies can be stored in airtight containers for 2-3 weeks. May not be applicable at our place. Confluence of flavours will take several hours was a maxim seldom listened to by the end users. Thus, the cookies finished fast. But their taste remains.
“We, the rustling leaves, have a voice that answers the storms, but who are you so silent?”
“I am a mere flower.”
– Tagore
One Saturday afternoon.
Cooking lessons in progress at home.
Instructor? Your’s truly.
Student? the daughter.
How to boil water was a good lesson.
Pan with water: Check.
Stove: On.
Heat: Medium.
Timer: Check.
Thermometer: Check
Nothing at first.
Except curiosity at its best.
Then…
Pin heads.
Crab eyes.
Bubbles rising to the surface.
Bigger bubbles.
Dragon eyes!
Uncalm surface.
Steam.
160/175/180/200F.
Tell me the temparature by what you see.
No touch.
No feel.
No using a digital IR temperature gauge.
(or an analogue thermometer-one with a red needle and a face)).
Not yet.
Natural progression from this is to brew tea.
To add tea leaves to boiling water and then steep
Or take tea leaves in a cup and add boiling water?
Karak (or Kadak) tea.
Chai tea, maybe?
Coffee comes next.
Dried Ginger coffee.
Turkish coffee, in which the spoon stands tall.
Arabic coffee?
Cardamom.
Dates.
Muscovado? Demerrera?
Turkish coffee story.
Man with his team awaits.
Girl (soon-to-be-bride) makes coffee.
Girl likes Man.
But
Adds salt instead of sugar.
Tense moments pass by.
Man drinks it all without a word.
Asks for more.
Girl happy.
Coz it’s three yes-ses!
Man marries girl.
End of story.
(Whose story?)
Finally, graduating to the perfect, fluffy, non-sticky rice.
Basmati.
Matta.
Ponni.
Chamba.
Rose.
Jasmine.
Sushi.
Cakes (n) are just that.
A cake (v) to bake.
So easy.
Instructor: Use your nose (points to the nose) to ensure the cake is done; not the skewer.
Student: Wont your nose get burned then?
(Ed: Hmmmm… that’s so true)
Instructor: (just grins)
Student: Laughs…
Cookies aint.
Kid was more happy to use the cookie-cutter.
Soda= spreads.
Powder= puffs.
Now the variables.
Sugar helps retain water content.
Butter or shortening.
Long time at low temp
Or
Short while at higher temp.
Crispy or softer.
May be chewy.
Roll, refrigerate and cut
against
flatten using a rolling pin and use a mold.
Eggs or no eggs.
Mix. Whisk. Fold. Add.
Wood.
Silicone.
Hand.
Chilled.
Warm.
Glass bowl.
Steel bowl.
And when the home gets filled with the aroma of cookies…
even the neighbours start to drool.
Cookies never gets to make it to fill the cookie jar.
Ever.
Door bell rings…
Must be the cookie-gang.
Someday she will make an Omelette.
On her own.
On a clear day, one can watch the sun rise from behind the Western Ghats mountain chain, from either the bedroom or the balcony…
Older than the Himalayas, the mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. Appearing in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, at least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats. The Ghats act as a key barrier, intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer. Of the total 325 globally threatened species in the Western Ghats, 129 are classified as Vulnerable, 145 as Endangered and 51 as Critically Endangered. The component parts of this serial property fall under a number of protection regimes, ranging from Tiger Reserves, National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Reserved Forests. All components are owned by the State and are subject to stringent protection under various laws.
(Details courtesy: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342)
Fog is a rare phenomenon is Bahrain.
Recently, fog descended upon the capital Manama.
While the traffic on the roads and highways resumed as normal, the Bahrain International Airport was closed.
Several flights were either diverted or cancelled.
Fog cleared, eventually.
The photographs were captured from West 23rd floor of the Bahrain World Trade Centre, Diplomatic Area. The old Manama city is now visible.
Falcons are beautiful.
As much as they are aggressive hunters,
their gentleness and elegance is worth admiring.
Here are some portraits of Saker Falcons
from the archives…
Visited local stores for the best ingredients.
Shortage of mixed peel was unusual this year.
Not a single store carried them.
So
went and bought fresh Navel oranges; scoured and peeled and sliced the peels 1/4″.
Boiled them peels, rinsed and repeated thrice.
Candy thermometer. Sugar solution.
Latter tricky without the former.
Orange peels, again.
Got them candied, got them dried.
End result: better than store-brought ones.
More photos follow…
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the kitchen.
A clean glass bowl.
Sultanas, Raisins, Black Currants, Glacé Cherries (washed, dried and halved) in St. Remy brandy.
Set aside after securing with cling film.
Mixed every other day and added more Remy if needed.
Mise en place seems to be the word, to begin with, from this point.
Everything in place before starting.
Preparing the baking tin to preheating the oven.
Glass bowl of dried fruits made succulent by the St. Remy for weeks.
Unsalted butter with lesser water content at room temperature.
One would do well if the stand mixer with balloon whisk attached is avoided for this preparation.
Hand mixer with whisker attachment is more suited.
All-purpose flour.
Mixed spice. Cinnamon.
Whole Nutmeg. Grater.
Pinch of ground, coarse, sea-salt.
Zest of Oranges and Lemon.
Freshly squeezed juice of one orange.
Dark brown sugar. (Tried Muscovado?)
Treacle.
Five fresh, brown, medium-large eggs.
Bowl #2 readied.
Measuring cups, spoons.
Wooden spoon. Wooden spatula.
Silicon spatula.
Parchment paper.
Walnuts Brazil nuts Almonds
Most chopped and some slivered.
1. Cream butter.
Kids will be around for a bit of taste.
Dark Brown Sugar and Black Treacle are also in great demand.
2. Whisk in eggs kept at room temparature, one at a time.
3. Spoon in flour, a spoon at a time.
4. Maintain 150˚C in the oven.
Mixture looks curdled.
Keep paddling…
Gentle on the mixture, please.
Gluten, unwelcome.
5. Scoop the cake mixture into the prepared bake-tin.
6. In goes the tin to the pre-heated oven for 3-4 hours.
7. At 2 1/2 hours, kids will start to visit the kitchen as the aroma arises and begins to fill the home.
8. First time the heated oven is open once the batter is in is after 2 1/2 hours.
9. Skewer comes out clean or not?
Anticipation builds from the day the dry fruits are soaked in brandy.
(Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?)
That day would be almost a month before Christmas.
Day the cake is baked, hopes are high.
Who will eat what and how much and who gets to keep the decor-berry and ivy for the new year.
Thankful that the cake did not carry fancy, pastel pink roses and cloud-white, Royal icing.
(Editor: The kids’ Mama baked one with all the above accessories almost bringing the house down).
Mittens… where are the mittens?
(So much for the mise en place).
Cake out of oven on to a cooling rack.
Not so lovely as once thought.
Wait, kids, tomorrow we decorate the cake.
Excitement builds up again.
Dusted confectioner’s sugar hoping to get a it-just-snowed effect.
Berry-ivy-leaf decor, one. Picked that from the local M & S.
Is that all? Kids asketh in chorus.
Yes, that’s all. Pâtissier replieth, solo.
Tiny plates.
Knife, the sharpest.
Shouldn’t it cut through the nuts and dry fruits?
Serving time…
Note: The orange peels, lemon zest and treacle make the cake a bit bitter. And the dark brown sugar and the mildly sweet sultanas and raisins brings in some sweetness. Nutmeg and cinnamon tries their best to add in the spiciness. A bitter-sweet-spicy cake? Yes, I would say. But you know it’s much more complex-er than that.
Now comes the best part…
Sharing the cake with others.
The cake is carefully sliced, wrapped carefully in parchment paper, tied carefully with strings and now ready to be shared.
Spiritual part
The spirit of Christmas in the air filled with hope, felt by everyone around is perhaps the greatest gift of the season. Sharing the bounty of blessings showered on each one of us by the Almighty is the next best. Bondage between simple human mortals based on unconditional love comes a close third.
Change the order – hope share bond love
if you may,
but that is what
Christmas is all about.
Rest everything is just a reason.
Let us carry the remnants of Christmas spirit all through the New Year.
Wishing you a Bright & Happy New Year!
The Man Who Walked Through Walls by the French writer Marcel Ayme begins:
“In Montmartre, on the third floor of 75b Rue d’Orchampt, there lived an excellent gentleman called Dutilleul, who possessed the singular gift of passing through walls without any trouble at all. He wore pince-nez and a small black goatee, and was a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Records. In winter he would take the bus to work, and in fine weather he would make the journey on foot, in his bowler hat.
Dutilleul had just entered his forty-third year when he discovered his power. One evening, a brief electricity cut caught him in the hallway of his small bachelor’s apartment. He groped for a while in the darkness and, when the lights came back on, found himself outside on the third-floor landing. Since his front door was locked from the inside,…”
Set in Paris’s Montmartre district, the stories by Marcel have spawned a number of films, including Jean Boyer’s 1951 classic Garou Garou, le passe-muraille and Yvan Attal’s Les Sabines starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, as well as a musical, Amour, which won the Prix Molière in France before an English version conquered Broadway.
Today in Montmartre a sculpture of The Man Who Walked through Walls, created by the legendary actor Jean Marais, can be found in the Place Marcel Aymé, paying tribute to the great author and his work.
Back home, the friendly neighbour owns 3 dogs; a Retriever, a German Shepherd and our beloved hero, a Great Dane.
The German Shepherd is a duty-bound workaholic reporting to his master 24/7. Retriever is a bit friendly even with strangers and quite easy going… I-don’t-want-any-trouble type.
Great Dane has his kennel built next to where our backyard ends. The view from the terrace opens to him.
He could easily scale the high wall on his hind legs. The way he senses my visit home and his reaction when he sees me for the first time after many months is unbelievable.
Here are some of the shots where his curiosity got the better of him…
MyRefractions 