7 good things | September
Figs!, a tv show, a recipe, frozen dumplings, an exhibition, an article, a restaurant
A look back at 7 good things I encountered this month. It’s a retroactive mood board of sorts, that captures some of the best that September brought my way.
1 FIGS. Eating, sometimes a little dictatorially, with the seasons, means a strawberry doesn’t cross our threshold before June, there is a tight window of opportunity for corn, and apples are the only fruit in the house for most of winter. It also means that when June does come, for a couple months, strawberries become an ordinary snacking fruit — like any old apple. This applies to most fruit and vegetables, though not, until this year, to figs. Figs here are scarce and fragile, and unless there was a specific occasion, I didn’t buy any. There were many a year when I barely ate one, and once the craving eventually overwhelmed, it was often too late. This month I’ve been buying figs every time I go to our local grocer. Sometimes with a specific intention in mind (see below!), most often just to eat with thick greek yogurt and honey. A sound rectification.
2 Season two of THE BEAR. It’s a tv series about a family-run sandwich shop in Chicago, which, after being hit by tragedy, is taken over by one of the most celebrated fine dining chefs if the country — the brother. The two seasons have very different feels. I liked the grittiness of the first, and the character arcs really start to develop in the second. Delectable tv watching.
3 Nigel Slater’s COPPA, FIG, AND GORGONZOLA TARTS — I made one big tart (for simplicity), and next time I’ll also omit the crème fraîche which added unnecessary moisture. Stunning.
4 On my last-minute quest for pure butter frozen puff pastry for the above-mentioned tart the other day (not so easy to find in the wild), I went to Nourished Communities, a shop for local farms and producers, from which I thought I’d made a mental note of having seen some in the past (I had, and they had one last roll). Fortuitously, the pastry was adjacent to My Neighbours the Dumplings’ FROZEN DUMPLINGS on the freezer shelf. They’re so good, especially the ones with pork and kaffir lime... Store locator
5 The EVELYN HOFER EXHIBITION at The Photographers Gallery.
6 Concord grapes are native to America, their flavour is astonishing. Yewande Komolafe describes this precisely in her recent COLUMN ABOUT CONCORD GRAPE JELLY : ‘When I tried my first one, picked from a ripened bunch in that basement kitchen, I had to adapt my memories. This was a real food that tasted like a flavor I believed was of purely artificial origin.’ This is so right. It was my reaction too, when I tasted my first Concord grape, immediately telescoped with a mild aversion, but slowly, over the years in New York, a real fondness and anticipation for Concord grape season. I’ve never encountered them anywhere else, this article reawakened the feeling.
7 We went with friends to the recently opened 64 GOODGE STREET a couple of weeks ago. I was attracted by its kinship to Quality Chop House, a restaurant that holds a special place, even though I’ve not been in years. It is a flawless restaurant, and already feels like an established classic. The interior is warm and intimate, the open kitchen incites temptation. The sauce mouclade, which accompanied the sea bass, was extraordinary, something I will remember for a while yet, while the Gâteau Marjolaine — layered meringue, chocolate ganache, and hazelnut — is not to be missed. Incredible food, nothing went awry. And yet. All too perfect perhaps? A whim, a light messiness around the edges, a startling detail would have ignited the memory completely.
Welcome, October!