Such a good question...
Mmm...
Heaven... I'm on a Portuguese beach... there's an improvised 'restaurant'... a pit with charcoal glowing... and on top the sardines hoiked out of the sea an hour ago... on the waiting plate,a few salad leaves, a single thin slice of a med tomato, an even thinner slice of sweet onion, a drizzle of vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of pepper. a single new potato, a little dab of butter; nicely chilled and, by my side, some vinho verde, the driest I could find, or, in a different mood, a little red douro, opened an hour before... in thirty seconds, the six sardines, slightly charred, are going to be placed on this plate... I am in heaven to be...
Hell... I am in the rain on Churchgate and really hungry... someone I once thought a friend has been queuing up at Ye Olde Pastie Shoppe for seven and a half soaking minutes, and successfully buys me one pastie (grease and potatoe and something unspeakable replacing what should be pastry) and one 'meat' pie, pink, congealed, with 'gravy' consisting of water and puddles of fat... I am trying to thank my friend, as I fight the retch... and lose... and vomit over my new shoes...
To eat for evermore... A homemade Turkish Lentil Soup... A wonderful mixture of red lentils, chilli, garlic, onion, tomato paste, brown sugar, dried mint, and more dried mint, and lemon squeezed and more lemon squeezed and more dried mint added at the end, and more lemon squeezed at the end an all... oh, and veggie stock, I just use bouillon powder to make it... with crusty bread, if you like, add a little rice or tiny pasta if you like... The best soup ever...
