To appease my darling wife.........

Just FYI, she is the one on the left.

For a while now, I have been getting pestered about the inaccuracy of one of my posts. In the deserted island discussion, I apparently listed my wife's 5 choices incorrectly. I defend myself by saying that she flip-flops back and forth on the list, but nevertheless, if only for my own personal peace & quiet (and general sanity), here is the official and updated (as of 9/19/10) list of Danielles' top 5:

1)Garlic - this is true, I could serve pan seared shoelaces, but if I had garlic bread on the side, it would probably be okay with her

2)Chocolate - I said this was a little bit of a reach, as chocolate has multiple ingredients, and I don't think she wants to eat raw cacao, but at this point I saw the look in her eyes. To even think of denying my wife chocolate, even in a hypothetical sense, is just plain suicidal on my part, so I let it go.

3)Sourdough bread - no arguments here, it was pretty much down to baguettes or sourdough for my list, so this'll work

4)Figs - she never even ate them until a few years ago. Now, she is more knowledgeable about fig growing seasons ("we'll start seeing them in the markets in 4-6 days from now, depending on the rain in Southern Georgia"), the different varietals, and what they are best used for than most chefs (moi included), farmers, or gourmands.

5)Parmesan Cheese - I put this as brie in the last post....big mistake. Since that fateful day, she has been making me buy ever larger and more expensive wedges of imported Parmesan to drive the point deep into my memory. Lesson learned

Hopefully this will satisfy her, and I can stop getting pestered.......about this anyway :)

AT LONG, LONG, LONG LAST.....Noush's Response

Okay Nick, you’ve been asking for my desert island post for weeks now and I finally sat down last night to write it up, old school, in Word – since we’re now going on Week Fecking 6 at my house with no Internet. I don’t think I’ve ever met a customer service so incompetent as that of our (for now, unnamed) service provider. Deep breaths.

So I’m on a desert island. (Is it desert island – or deserted island? By dint of the fact there’s water around, it wouldn’t be “desert,” right?) No matter – we probably don’t need to get into semantics.

The point is I’m on an island and there’s not much around in the way of a supermarket, but thankfully, the Power-That-Is (a cross between Buddha and Elvis) has seen fit to grant me a small, but essential request – my favourite five foods (and only my favourite five) in plentiful supply for the rest of my life. I must choose quickly, but carefully. Not to be melodramatic, but this is Fo-eh-vuh.

So here goes:

Tomato-Fennel Soup: I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting my mother’s tomato-fennel soup. If you have, then you already understand why it’s top of list. If you haven’t yet tried it, well…I’ll just say it’s a revelation. I could happily eat it for dinner for the rest of my life, accompanied by:

Pita Bread: So practical, so tasty. What a perfect pocket for stuffing all your favourite “stuff “ into. Assuming that if I leave it out on a rock in the hot, desert island sun, the process will act as a toaster, crisping and breaking it open – ready for all the delicious extras, like:

Goat Cheese: I know what you’re going to say: “ew, goat cheese – it smells like old socks.” Whereas, I think it’s the most perfect cheese ever blended. As fundamental as “you say potato, I say pot-ah-toe.” Let’s just agree to disagree on this one, eh?

Avocado: My favourite thing about you, Avocado, is your versatility. I can fill you with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and you’re a meal in yourself. I can mush you on top of pita bread with a little salt and pepper and you’re better than butter. I can slice you up with goat cheese and boiled egg (see below) inside a pita pocket and you’re my perfect lunch. For this reason, you must accompany my desert (ed) island existence.

Eggs: The weird thing is, I couldn’t stand the taste, texture or smell of eggs until I was about 15. I actually used to tell everyone I was allergic to egg when I was a kid because this seemed the most sure-fire way to make sure no one ever served them to me, in any pure form. (On a side note, this caused consternation at more than a few birthday parties, when, proclaiming my “allergy” after Slice 4 of birthday cake, the supervising mother in question would stare in horror, awaiting the closure of my throat and other such “allergic” reactions, which obviously never materialized.)

But I digress: Eggs -- I love them now. So versatile, so edible. An omelette for dinner, boiled for breakfast or lunch, scrambled in a pita pocket for…whenever. And poached, for a treat.

Wow, I can’t believe that’s five. There are so many things I’m conflicted about leaving off – the biggest one being tomatoes. I debated having them as a straight-up on the list, rather than as part of a soup. Suffice to say, it was a very hard choice that kept me up nights. I’m still a little teary-eyed at the thought of never having an Insalata Caprese again – I love you basil, tomato, mozzarella. Guess I’ll just have to hope I’m rescued from the island at some point and the full world of food re-opened to me? Insalata Caprese, I’ll make you a deal: if I ever make it off this tropical, magical, godforsaken, tomato-free island, you’ll be my first mainland meal. Agreed? Agreed.

In the meantime, I’m off to cook my goat cheese omelette with avocado salsa.