MULTI-HERB ZUCCHINI SOUP

Consider it monk food, for its serene aspect and infused temple spirit. Alfred Tennyson has a verse about a secret garden and I will paraphrase it to conjure a Buddhist vegetable plot: before a seed, comes a blessing— to blossom forever. Curled parsley, lavender basil, thyme and rosemary, the babies...

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A KIND OF KELP

It was a surprise to discover sea grapes at a local grocer in Wailuku yesterday; the moment was surreal. This kind of sea grass or kelp abundant-growing around the coastline of the Philippine Islands had been an elusive find ever since, so I had written about it previously in this blog from the context...

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BOURDAIN DAYS (one of the bests)

 Tuileries Garden, Paris. Photo by C.G. (sitting in this chair reading my postcard) “[He] marveled at how the fruits and vegetables that grew in a place — the ones that gave it a particular flavor — amplified his experience of having been there. How taste made the vividness of certain landscapes...

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BOURDAIN DAYS (cont.)

 It is only recently since reading a biography of the famed chef and father of the quintessential American cuisine, James Beard, in The Man Who Ate Too Much, that revealed to me he was born and raised in Portland, Ore. It was, however, his English mother, Elizabeth, who had informed his passion...

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BOURDAIN DAYS

Paris, Ile-de-France, November 21, 2016Photo by: C.G.The stack of to-read books in the living room are indications of a weekend mood. The previous workweek was a blink of time, but now the agency to rest out long has traction and good reason. Goethe had a pretty striking theory about plants. The poet...

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