Making Soup not Dreams

Stéphane, the protagonist of the movie The Science of Sleep
(portrayed by Gael Garcia Bernal, who is to me extremely sexy and
talented. I could listen to him speak
Spanish to me all day), appears in the opening scene demonstrating how dreams
are prepared. Some LPs, a couple of
squirts of black ink, broken spaghetti are metaphorically labeled to be
memories, songs and love which are all added into large pot to ‘cook’ and
dreams arise as ruby red-hued steam.

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His philosophy on preparing dreams, “People think it is a
very simple and easy process but it’s a bit more complicated than that. As you can see, a very delicate combination
of complex ingredients is the key.” Luckily
making a real pot of soup is not as complex as dreams though a well-planned
combination of ingredients may produce a superior tasting bowl.

Liquid goodness in a bowl, each and every one should carry a
little goodie bag of soup recipes. Soup is like the shortcut yet
authentic way to a wholesome made-at-home meal. Minimal utensils, a
couple of rough cuts and marinade not required, we should be hiding in shame if
we were looking for an escape route out of soup.

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I discovered that soups need space and time alone, just like
the Men from Mars. John Gray profiled
his male species to naturally retreat into his cave during down periods and
advised women to let them be, instead of coaxing them out to share their
troubles. When the man triumphs in his
battle within, he will seek a return to daylight. If you stand close over the stove to observe the bubbling soup, not only
the activity is quite a bore, usually impatience presides over and you don’t
give it space for the flavours to develop fully.

So if you intend to spare an hour or two curled up on your
sofa reading or watching telly, I would suggest making some soup. Just throw the ingredients into the pot, let
it boil and turn down the heat. Head
back to your reading and return to check on the soup whenever your legs need
some stretching. Since when it comes to making
soup, to overcook is no big deal so just laze your day away and wrap it up with
a bowl of homemade nourishment. Then maybe, it’s time to start dreaming..