Lockdown has caused me to be increasingly reflective. As you know, this has also come at a time when I have lost my dad, another event that gives you pause for thought…
In terms of the national situation, I recently read an article (Utopia, dystopia and life after lockdown – Damian Howard SJ, published in The Tablet 28th May 2020) from a friend’s Twitter account that split our response to the current crisis in the following way: Utopian, for those who optimistically hope that we will act on all the positives that have been evident over recent weeks. Dystopian, for those who are pessimistic about our economic, environmental and social future. Steady-state, for those who think that we will just return to where we were before.
On a more personal level, my mother, with whom we are ‘bubbling’, came to stay for a couple of days. Talk turned quickly to my father and the memories we all have of him. My mother shared many stories of their time in Jerusalem in the early 60s…driving down the old road to Jericho in a car with dodgy brakes, trying to arrange a rota of services in the cathedral at Christmas and Easter that kept all the different religious factions happy, taking my sisters to the school which was run by French nuns in a uniform that needed to be pressed and white, using dirty nappies in the back of the car to get through long delays and car searches at borders, family picnics in Gethsemane, cockroaches on the stone floors, closing shuttered windows when bullets were flying around outside, meeting the American pastor from New England and the eye surgeon from Cambridge who would become friends for life, Maria the maid who helped out and taught us all some Arabic (sadly long forgotten!), my father meeting Haile Selassie and helping to train a group of charming Ethiopian priests, the spectacular view as you came in to land at Beirut airport…
We decided, therefore, to have a meal that might bring back some taste memories…
Eating: Preserved lemons and pomegranate were two of the flavours that my mother remembered, so we had variety of dishes – sweet and sour onion petals (recipe from Ottolenghi in Feast 06/19), cauliflower shawarma (recipe from Josh Katz – Berber & Q), Chermoula aubergine with bulgar and yoghurt (recipe from Ottolenghi in The Guardian 01/09/12) and Freekeh, tomato and chickpea pilaf (recipe from Sabrina Ghayour in Vegetarian Living magazine). Apologies, but we were too busy eating to take a picture of the pilaf!
Drinking: As the above meal wasn’t planned much in advance, I didn’t have the red I would have normally put with the flavours above, so we drank this Portuguese red, sourced from ND John, full-bodied and fruity, so complemented the strong flavours of the food.
Listening to: Old school Santana. Just great guitar work and Carlos worked with so many other great singers too! Current favourites the classics One Como Va, Black Magic Woman and Game of Love (feat. Michelle Branch)
Reading: In the era pre-lockdown, I was dragged to see Emma.. Despite myself I loved it and have just started reading the Austen novel…
Cook.Eat.Blog.Repeat. 