Foods Are...
I miss the little nooks and narrow alley ways back home, where you can always find some street vendor who is cooking up a delightful aroma. In Taiwan
When we were living in Monterey , California
After Monterey, we moved to San Diego and the craving for Goosen’s nectarines got the best of me, one weekend, we packed up and drove 6 hours ONE WAY just for a taste of Goosens’. It was worth the cost of gas, hotel and all the traveling expenses combined. I’d do it again in a heartbeat! Upon hearing that we drove 6 hours just to be there, Steve, the owner, threw in some green grapes as a friendly gesture. I wasn’t too impressed with how the grapes looked; some of them were covered with a few dark specks. But that is not the important part. The part that really mattered was how divine they tasted.
I remember browsing around the farmers market after picking up the nectarines and grapes. Naturally, walking around in place that has abundance of fresh food makes you want to eat something. So with the grapes sitting so conveniently in bag, I reached in, put one in my mouth, upon one gentle light touch of my teeth, the grape bursted open in my mouth, it was... oh, still, I am at a loss for words.
It was absolute perfection - something like a perfectly choreographed dance, a Beethoven’s 5th symphony inside my mouth. The fresh crisp skin combined with the slightly tart yet sweet, tender, plump flesh, never had I known grapes can have such complexity in texture and flavor…
It was absolute perfection - something like a perfectly choreographed dance, a Beethoven’s 5th symphony inside my mouth. The fresh crisp skin combined with the slightly tart yet sweet, tender, plump flesh, never had I known grapes can have such complexity in texture and flavor…
I literally had a stand still moment; I think the world stopped spinning.
From that one little grape, I could taste the California sun, the earth the seedling sprouted from, I could taste the air, the rain…it was love, it was “This is how grapes are supposed to taste like!” “What have I been missing all my life!!”
I had a painful realization right then that I had not lived until that moment. I had experienced perfection from such a small and ordinary fruit and I knew I shall never be content again buying fruits from grocery stores. And I haven’t.
When I moved back to Utah Monterey
As the weather is turning colder, I think of hot steaming tea, slow cooked ox tails with meat falling off the bones, red cooked fish, deep fried pork chops (unbeatable Chinese style), sweet and pungent duck, sticky rice cooked in bamboo, cumin lamb with mounds of cilantro, roasted lamb legs rubbed in exotic spices, braised lamb shank, basically anything lamb will do. And other dishes that I shall not name to keep your delicate American digestive system intact.
Notice the thin film wrapped around the rice? It's the coating from inside the bamboo and that is how the rice gets its distinct fragrance, it's the most simple and tastiest thing EVER!!
My heart hums with joy at the thought of holding a simple bowl of hot soup noodle on cold winter mornings, my favorite kind of breakfast.
Foods are that men may have joy!
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7 comments:
You are making me hungry!
What a great post. It's a good thing I just finished a huge meal of lasagna, garlic bread and ceasar salad or my stomach would be growling right now!
I didn't know you were such a fruit lover. I wish I was. Fruit just doesn't do it for me. I like much more unhealthy things like chocolate and cheesecake.
As far as your cooking goes, you have delighted my taste buds many a time. I miss your cooking! Come back!
A-M-E-N!
You not only are an amazing writer but a superb cook. I miss your cooking also. It never tastes quite the same when I cook it. Your Salmon recipe has changed many lives. My family say "you know your Salmon recipe Belinda". I coorect them everytime, it is my Chinese friend. Oh, how they love you. I am in need of some more great recipes from you. Preferable less meat, flavorful and doesn't take a lot of time to prepare. How about it? You excel at so many things. I miss you and your funny sense of humor.
yummy!
Mmm, sounds so divine!!I vote we ditch the traditional American Thanksgiving, and you can make us one of your favorite oriental dishes! By the way, my sister is living in Shanghi right now, teaching English. Shes' loving it!!
What a great post. It's amazing how food can bring back so many great memories. I always think about how fun it will be to have land some day and plant fruit trees. When we were growing up in Colorado my dad planted a plum tree when my brother was born. I thought that was such a neat tradition.
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