Food for Thought
Good day, Sunday. It’s sunny, I have a coffee, and today I was lucky enough to have BOTH cats puke. Sometimes I feel like there’s so much vomiting going on I may as well be living with two supermodels. At least they both kept it to the tile this morning.
(For the record, Mal is a sheds – and attempts to eat – the equivalent of a small kitten daily, and Chaucer eats too fast. They’re not sick, just stupid.)
I made a quick run out to the store yesterday, because I needed lemon juice to make the garlic aioli I wanted to have with my salmon burgers last night. Naturally, I left the store with other stuff, like mangoes and shrimp. I saw the mangoes and thought I’d make a relish with them, because it’s awesome on salmon.
“You’re going to have a lot of relish,” Shawshank said.
“That’s what the shrimp are for! Leftover relish!” The shrimp should be defrosted this afternoon. I’ll marinate them all spicy and shit, and have them with rice. They’re in the fridge this very moment, loaded up with spice.
The spice must flow.
Shawshank and I talked food for a bit yesterday. We’re both really big on flavor. We like spice for flavor rather than the heat, and we enjoy experimenting with meals. I grew up on the coast – hell, it’s not called the Ocean State for nothing – and was given fish and clams as soon as I could handle solid food. In comparison, TinyTown is landlocked in the middle of nowhere, several days’ drive from either coast. Also, there’s dietary preferences and restrictions to think about.
Shawshank‘s got his work cut out for him: one diabetic, one crotchety old biddy who needs things soft and bland, and one who subsists on meat and potatoes. Garam masala would be unheard of anywhere within a 100 mile radius. I said I’ll have to make a trip to the Indian grocery and smuggle up some bulk spices and herbs, otherwise I’ll die of blandness.
And then that spirals into the idea that not only does TinyTown need a high end cupcake shop/cafe, but some real flavor. If the little Italian restaurants here can sell gallons of tomato sauce and soups on Sundays, why couldn’t we?
“You make the sauces and the soups,” Shawshank said. “I’ll make the breads.”
And suddenly now we’re running a hypothetical cupcakery and cafe, selling tacos on Tuesdays, and gallons of curries and sauces on Sundays.
Dream big, you beautiful bastards.
Woah, Dune reference out of nowhere 👍
Canada is not that backwater! You mentioned that there’s Walmart close (in another post) and if there are superstores(not a Walmart supercentre, an actual chain by loblaws in Canada called superstore)/anywhere around tinytown you will be able to find plenty of spice- they have smatterings of everything. Saskatchewan and Alberta actually have a fairly large population of people from India and the Middle East. The first mosque in North America was founded in Edmonton Alberta in the early 1900s I think… it may be that shawshank is used to seeing the great north as bland and pokey because that’s what his people around him prefer. If you know what to look for, you’re going to find it. Don’t fret too much!
Shawshank sees it as bland because they have bland tastes. There was almost an all out war because he wanted to make some kheer for the familythat can actually have sweets, and his mother was wanted to change the recipe to make it more like her rice pudding recipe. He grew up in a Canadian city that’s about 10k people smaller than what we lived in here, and wouldn’t even fill the local NFL team’s stadium to half its capacity. When we met 20 years ago, he was in Vancouver. It’s not like either of us thinks the entire country is bland.
In contrast, TinyTown’s population is roughly the size of my high school and its closest Walmart is about 2 hours away. He was actually surprised to find cardamom for the kheer. He’s been there a week now and says he likes the town. Will we stay there or move someplace? Who knows. It depends on what work can be found.
I totally get that… my parents love Indian food from a curry perspective but their experience with Chinese cuisine is limited to super westernized buffet, so my sister making an Asian mango noodle cilantro salad was pretty intense for them… I get emails from them every week and almost every one they talk about making ribs for dinner… seriously … have some chicken, or fish or something! I am allergic to pretty much the world so I can’t do fish and seafood but if I had a patio and a bbq the way they do, I would be grilling all the time and making tons of fun things. Farmer towns with farmer people are definitely a thing… the most exciting you can hope for is bullseye bbq sauce from most people. Maybe some old El Paso mild salsa 💃 lol. I feel for you. But it sounds like you are going to be going on a great adventure! I’m currently trying to finalize my divorce so I can move to the Nederlands, which also is missing a lot of my food needs, I have to adjust a lot of my thoughts…. (what do you mean you don’t sell frozen fresh corn tortillas by the 50 so I can eat them instead of bread because I’m a glutard….) but… love makes you take on adventures! Also- u look amazing with the brush buzz. I would look awful- I have a very large head. I love hearing about your coworkers. Keep writing, it’s amazing