This evening my friend Mary prepared a traditional Malagasy meal for me, my sister, and Molly. She did the research and was able to find just about everything she needed-minus lychees-right here in Grand Rapids, MN. Amazing. Well let me just say that if her recipes were indeed authentic, which I do not doubt, then the food is one thing I am not going to stress about. It was delicious: a vegetable soup puree with turnips and carrots, a tomato salad with tangy scallions, some stewed beef served with a little dab of a paste made out of crushed red pepper, oil and garlic (my favorite), and of course rice, which was cooked with mustard greens. Yum! For dessert; fresh strawberries, pineapple, oranges, and cantaloupe drizzled generously with vanilla, a little sugar and lemon.
Recently, I became sad about missing my favorite season in Minnesota - summer - and my favorite summer activity - farmer's marketing (hey, I hear there's a verb in Malagasy meaning "to go to the market" so I figured I'd give it a shot). But then I realized that I will soon have ample access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Really good ones. Year round. So no worries here, although I will miss the cute tomato guy at Mill City...and the walnut, fig and anise bread from Mid-town...and of course sweet corn.
So, thank you Mary for giving me a break from the packing and good-byes and endless errands to enjoy a wonderful meal with perfect company that also succeeded in re-igniting the sparks of excitement that had somehow gotten buried beneath the previously mentioned errands.
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Yum, all that stuff sounds so good! But oh man, just hearing you say the words "sweet corn" got my mouth watering...it does not exist in France either (or at least I'm not looking in the right places) and I'm dying for a nice grilled cob!
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