100+8. This Didn’t Ought to Be Like This; But It Is, of Course

Café Belgique, January 7, 2013

“In my created head I don’t exist

As rising bed-heavy the mist

Is fixed though always full of surprises

And the world in my eyes

Is hardly a certainty”

Howe, p 13

Well, the recipe for cold noodles comes up here, I suppose, so I’ll let it. Very simple – just boil the noodles – rice noodles best – leave to cool, dress with a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil & rice vinegar (some slivers of ginger in it & of course cut up little chillies), plus chopped spring onions, just blanched beansprouts, some cold cooked chicken shreds, a little dried shallot, maybe coriander leaves, that sort of thing. Light & refreshing, OK?

Not much more, really. If you want to know how many words, you can count them.

I’m not going to.

Eat well; join together; resist strongly

we might be OK yet.

At the last text

- unfalsifiable

true to tell

anything can be

Living fluid

Bathing in diurnity

A poet in words

A maggot in pus

- eat away at corruption

  to cleanse the wound

  that is our being

Il naso della pecora sente il precepizio

Time to finish the coffee now

look out

         at the still, dark river

the damp slabbed bulk of the mill beyond

- time to break down

                     again

“Winter tones are rose & glass

the sun as false as all nostalgias

If this world isn’t good enough for us

then an afterlife won’t be enough”

Howe, p 81

96. A Recipe for a Smoked Haddock Risotto

for my family: Philpotts, Potter-Drakes, Ketleys, Yues & Yus, Fams, Stapletons, Smith-Sparks, Laws, Harcups, Joyces, Martins, Frains, Lamberts & Ellises

At this point it is time

to stop & eat again –

we must hold together

the next valley is the one after supper

for this landscape centres on

how we live together, & eat

like real people: here

take this & flourish:

Everyone you know

would need these things

or similar: a smoked haddock, undyed etc

            risotto rice, say 300 g at least

                          - arborio delicious enough for me

            a couple (or more) of small leeks

            1 small red onion

            frozen peas

            chives

            maybe a little chervil or parsley

            olive oil

            some butter

            parmesan or good grana padano

            vegetable stock (say 600 ml)

            dry white Italian wine

                      - yes, origin here important I think

                      oh Frascati, I like you best!

Well, OK, you start to work

shredding & cutting: take the fish

& like in some ritual put in a dish

& cover with boiling water, then coffin

w/ clingfilm & leave for 10 minutes about

chop the onion fine & slice quite small

those leeks, snip up your herbs

make up your stock & keep it simmering

while a fresh-boiled kettle of water may prove useful

next open the wine & drink a little

yes, the fish will be ready, so

drain off the water & flake the fish

decent bits, like debris after rioting.

In a wide pan heat oil & a great knob of butter

then cook the onion & the leek

gently till soft & tender, adding

the rice to roll it & coat it & cook it

so it begins to crackle a little

then a first glass of wine

- it soaks in, like blood from a murder

then add stock & again it will be perfect

just let it absorb & the grains slowly plump

repeatedly[1] - a lot doing here!

As it gets near ready, glaucous & rich

like some beautiful pie-filling, a little more wine

I like before the end, and add your peas

of course & the fragmented fish & chives

when ready, when it tips into something right

don’t let it lie but open up a final perfection

- stir in the cheese & more butter – then leave

covered & off the heat, to nurture itself

coat & imbue each grain, piercing below

the surface of the seen to penetrate each valley of taste[2].

Serve rapidly, with more cheese & some fresh ground black pepper

& the chervil or parsley if you want sprinkled

- it won’t be too soon! any rage ends at once

sharing its calmative perfection & the rest of the wine.

[The recipes for the best food are always unwritten. I’ve taken this from several internet sites & my own practice w/ risottos. You could make it with mushrooms or prawns, or miss out or shift the vegetables – courgettes are also good. If you take out a lot, it’ll work OK for small children.[3] I think, when making it, of my mother, and her Times Calendar recipes. Give yourself to improve & alter, to improvise in your situation. Time still for one last meal together here. I invite you all.]

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[1] If you have used all your stock, the boiling water.

[2] Or like some early stage in the laying down of conglomerates.

[3] You know what they like & need (as do they, of course).