magic meat
Out of context: Reply #8
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- DutchBoy0
The supreme food for me, of course, is chocolate. Chocolate is the food that makes my appetite sigh, that fills me with longing, that sends me on an endless quest for the perfect shop. In my spare time, I daydream about it, and my fantasies go something like this: I am in a strange town with narrow, cobbled streets. (This stereotypical vision implies old Europe, but so be it. It’s my fantasy, after all.) Suddenly, there is an unmistakable odor in the air; it is the smell of chocolate. I follow my nose, and I come upon a seemingly endless row of candy shops, where the chocolate is lovingly conched, and everything is homemade. My reputation as a chocolate connoisseur with an impeccable palate has preceded me, and in shop after shop, the workers clamor to give me free samples. As I nibble and taste, they anxiously await my opinion. But it is no good. I must sample something from every shop before I can pass judgment. And so it goes, down the long, long street. I pause only for sips of water to cleanse my palate.
Unfortunately, in central Maine this fantasy is a far cry from reality. Yes, there are good chocolate shops, but they are scattered across the state, and they are not within an easy drive of each other. However, all is not lost. Not far from where I live, there is a restaurant called The Senator, and it has a chocolate dessert so smooth and rich that it nearly brings tears to my eyes. It goes by the modest name of Senator’s Peanut Butter Cup, and it has as much relation to the Reese’s version as a workhorse has to a thoroughbred. Yes, they belong to the same species, but there the resemblance ends. The Senator’s Peanut Butter Cup has a crisp shell of chocolate covering a whipped mousselike filling of chocolate and peanut butter. First there is the snap and crunch of hard chocolate followed by a delightful cream that both soothes the tongue and satisfies the taste buds. It is one of the best desserts I have ever had.
I could go on and on and give more examples of the sweets/meat dichotomy. My own brother’s love of prime rib versus my sister-in-law’s love of Jordan Almonds. Super Bowl versus Valentine’s Day. My nephew’s preference for chicken rather than dessert. The chocolate parties to which I have been invited, hosted, of course, by women. But, enough is enough.
Let me conclude by pointing out that these ruminations on sweets and meat have made me reconsider my actions and have led to practical, everyday changes in my own life. In the past, whenever I wanted to buy my husband a little treat for, say, his birthday or Christmas or Valentine’s Day, I would inevitably turn to chocolate. I now realize that this was a somewhat selfish choice guided by what I would have liked to receive rather than what my husband would enjoy. No more! From now on, Clif will receive little gift packages of sausages and other spicy meats. And on real special occasions, I might even buy him a hot dog.