The Chef was, in fact, unflappable. But the class was fantastic. He taught us about amaranth and other “ancient” grains. I had my first introduction to quinoa, a previously overlooked complete protein that has as much protein per ounce as cow meat. Triticale. Loquat. Quince. Kiwano. Fiddlehead Fern. Durian. The man was full of stories – travel adventures and culinary experimentation. One day we tasted twenty two grains back to back, picking apart the differences between long- and short grain rices, red and yellow lentils. We had a blind salt tasting, our task to name the origin of a tray full of refined salts – sea, or rock. It was the ultimate foodgeek class, the only time we had during school to just sit around and talk about how neat foods are.

Neat (and too often overlooked) food no. 484: Cherimoya.
The Cherimoya is an Andes native now cultivated in Spain, Ecuador, the US, Chile, Israel, Australia, and Mexico as well and, according to the class’s required text, the Visual Food Encyclopedia, is borne of a thorny-branched tree that can reach up to 24 feet high. The trees often have to be hand-pollinated as the flowers are too fragrant to attract most insects. When ripe, their soft fruit is intoxicatingly sweet, creamy, and a little tangy. Visual Food recommends using the cherimoya in salads, ice creams, yogurts or jellies. Me, I think there’s no better way than standing in the kitchen, spoonin’ the flesh from a halved fruit right into my hungry little mouth.

I know not whether I have actually succeeded in the canning part – they seem sealed…I followed the directions – but I can say that the stuff inside is good and I am counting on it being good also in the dead of Winter.

I’ve done classic strawberry jam, drunken strawberry jam (berry + red wine), spicy peach preserve (cinnamon and nutmeg), mangolime & coconut sauce (think of it warm on crepes, waffles, or pancakes) and framboise-marinated pears. The pears will come out in December, hopefully having turned deep purple, to feature in my Pear Frangipane Tarts. They are my very first holiday tradition. There are more peaches ripening, and more pears too. Back in school, I made a very warm, very sweet, very strange Pear Lime jam with habanero peppers. I have no idea what a gal, under more normal circumstances would do with it, aside from melt over venison maybe. It’s tempting to recreate, but when will I ever have venison again?

In any case, this new endevour is certainly keeping me occupied whilst I wait for the winemaking book (and cash enough to get going with all the stuff). Kinda makes me want to go find a creek to keep my butter cold in…

I appear to be engaged in something of a love affair with said fruit; and it’s getting serious. So serious, in fact, that I do believe I have begun to occasionally make an ass of myself around others who do not share my lust.

Saturday night with the figgy:

most measurements are approximate:

• 2 C dry red wine
• 2 Tbl honey
• 1 cinammon stick
• 2 whole cloves
• 6 whole, ripe, green figs
1. Combine all ingredients in medium sized saucepan and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat until liquid goes still in the pan, for you are about to poach.
2. Gently place clean (trimmed) figs into the pan.
3. Cover and cook, turning once perhaps, approx 15 minutes. You will notice a color change in the skin. Better to feel like you are undercooking the fruit than to ruin it with too much heat.
4. Remove figgies from poaching liquid and set aside (keep warm).
5. Turn heat up to a simmer and reduce poaching liquid to syrup.
6. Serve warm fruit over ice cream (methinks vanilla or other extremely mild and unobtrustive flavor) and drizzle syrup over.
7. Toasted nuts might also be nice.
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