today

---

During the pandemic, I read Elizabeth David's French Country Cooking from cover to cover as a writing exercise. I was looking at the words and the structure and punctuation. After a while, I could see her hand. The intimacy was a pleasure. I collected three-to-five-word phrases while reading, saving them in a document that is 25 pages long. I was thinking about poetry but know nothing about the form. I don't know if what follows is proper, but it was fun to create. And to see our words mingle is a thrill.  
 
 
My dad’s cast-iron Dutch oven is
“a fat comfortable-looking pot”[1]
with a charcoal surface buffed to a patent leather sheen
“nothing cooked in it could possibly go wrong.”[2]
 
A Fibonacci sequence of use
from two generations of braises, soups and stews
“imparting a very special flavour”[3]
beginning with a glug-glug of oil or “a nut of butter.”[4]
 
The ghost of his onions sizzles with mine, along with “a suspicion of garlic[5]
fine-tuning the heat dial until the bubbles reverberate at the right pitch
and cirrus cloud steam rises from the crescent moon gap between pot and lid
the “rich aromas of slow cooking” are a signal to set the table.[6]
 
***
 
When cooking, let the bean’s character bloom. Be generous with the flavourings and amplify the ingredients in the final recipe. This batch of navy beans was destined for an Italian-inspired dish.
 
Ingredients:
 
Carrots with a bit of their tops, cooking onions in their golden skin, a head of garlic halved horizontally, celery stalks, Campari tomatoes on their pungent, vegetal stalks, Italian parsley, thyme, and rosemary tied in a bundle, bay leaves, a shard of kombu for umami. 
 
Cooking method:
 
Soak the beans in lots of cold water overnight. Drain and discard the soaking liquid. Put the beans in a pot and cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to a boil and skim the foam off the surface. When the foam subsides, add the flavouring ingredients. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Skim as needed and cook for 30 to 45 minutes or until tender — the age of the beans determines the cooking time.
 
Turn the heat off and season liberally with salt. Leave the beans to cool completely in the cooking liquid.
 
Remove and discard the flavouring ingredients. Store in their liquid. The beans freeze beautifully.
 
***
 
Would you please consider subscribing to ‘today’ or sharing it on social media?
 
***
 
Look at the smiles in that concert hall. I’d love to be in that crowd. What a message to leave an audience with. It’s the energy to take into 2024.
 
I adore you!
 
 __________
[1] David, Elizabeth. French Country Cooking. Illustrated ed. (London:  Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1987). p. 49
[2] Ibid., p. 25
[3] Ibid., p. 48
[4] Ibid., p. 65
[5] Ibid., p. 117
[6] Ibid., p. 103

---

2023