chocolatebuddha

The blame goes to V! A few months ago, he shared his 2 week road trip across French vineyards. Being French Belgian, the utmost quality he seeks in food is not a show of haughtiness, but instead a rightfully claimed innate quality.

Sometimes, I question myself as a Pilates teacher. Is it considered unethical to be discussing about cooking crepes suzette, French mustard and drinking espresso with a piece of dark chocolate swirling in the mouth? I think V secretly loves it when we are doing stretching exercises, because then we can chat – the feeling is mutual as you can see. And today he talked to me about his dinner party last night, about the shrimp cocktail and lamb loins he made (and swears only by pink meat).

The clock showed 3pm and the sky at it darkest, informing of an impending storm ahead. But I shoved the risk of dangerous driving in the storm aside and minutes later, I was ordering four slices of rib eye steak to be sliced for me over the meat counter.

As I had always believed, good food is always simple. Recently in
Barcelona, I was highly recommended to have bamboo clams, cooked
quickly with garlic and lemon. I was slurping each drop of juice left
off the empty plate!

My parents have been really understanding and never once objected at
my last minute notices, “Oh by the way, I’m off to Europe for 5 weeks,
in 2 weeks’ time.” So this time returning home, I thought a nice yet
subtle way of thanking them could be a meal at home.

It was a shame that I had to return to work in the evening. So after doing all the preparation I could, I wrote a note to my brother who took over the reign for the final touches. I would have loved to have dinner with everyone but at the same time, I trusted my brother to upkeep my purportedly high standards.

“There’s some wine left on the table for you,” my dad said to my surprise. I take that as a sign of appreciation. The fact that they opened a bottle, dinner must have been satisfying for them.

I heated up the pan for my final piece of steak. Over two glasses of wine, I ate bite after bite to savour the moment and reflect on the day that had began with rising before the sun and an energetic morning run. There’s no better way to end it.

Menu of the Day

Salad of Carrot and Dill with Dressing of Yogurt, Mustard and Garam Masala

Potatoes, Roasted with Rosemary, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Bacon Bits

Rib-eye Steak with Foie Gras Pate and Truffle-infused Olive Oil

Häagen-Dazs Macadamia Ice-Cream with Bitter Chocolate Thins

• 12 April 2007
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