Love and Chicken

There are so many sounds people make when they express there joy (or not) over a flavour. But to write them is difficult. Some sounds of delight cannot be well represented by any combinations of the 26 letters of our alphabet. Take for example “mmmmmmm”. It uses only one consonant, but in this written form tells you nothing really. There are a myriad of ways that this consecutive string of m`s is vocalised. It can have an element of surprise in it, where the start of the verbalisation is high pitched and then drops. It can be expressed seductively, where the pitch is low, increases and then drops off slowly again. And it can express mere adequacy; starts high, drops and then rises again. It can also be used for irony when you do not really want to tell the truth; monotone! You have to hear it in person to get its meaning.

There is one other sound that I have heard when good food is served that is impossible to express in vowels and consonants, but I will try and describe it. It’s a gasp in reverse. It’s a sudden sound made through the throat and nose on exhalation. Try it… see if it sounds like a sound you would make if you had just tasted something mouth watering.

I love that sound. It means that the food is appreciated and enjoyed…as it should always be. I have undergone a philosophy change regarding food and its preparation over the last couple of weeks. Up until this year, I viewed food as nutrition. Cooking was a necessary task to make sure the family was healthy and content and because it had to be a regular task, it may as well have been done with love. But now I am beginning to see the preparation of food as an art…as a blending of flavours and textures to bring about enjoyment. An art motivated by love. A whole new experience.

Tonight’s menu required the good old faithful skinless chicken filet. The filets were sliced with care and marinated in fresh lime juice for 15 minutes. They were gently fried; almost dry again, just a tiny dollop of olive oil in the Family Frying Pan. Once cooked, they were set aside. Time for the juices to re-mingle and settle themselves to maintain the succulence of the meat. Chicken stock was poured into the pan along with half a bottle of Woolies olive pasta sauce and the zest from the lime that was juiced for the marinade. A couple of generous handfuls of baby spinach was wilted in this delectable fluid. Cooked risoni was added and the juicy chicken bits put in last to finish of the dish…all in one pan.

The lime flavour stays with the chicken even though the risoni takes up the pasta sauces olive flavour. The baby spinach is tender but I think it is included only for colour and nutritive purposes…to clear the conscience of guilt feelings for neglecting vegetables. Again, a good healthy meal with negligible fat content and no salt, scored by Son this time as a firm 9, and a reverse gasp! Its one I would make again, but I think I would like to add some red to it…like finely chopped de-pipped mild chillies or peppadews. Just to make it look prettier.