WILD GARLIC

Paris in the Sixties A wonderful way to relax was to go down to the Germaine Monteil salon at the bottom of the Champs Elysées for a massage. Madame Hélène, who was Vietnamese, gave very good body massages in the basement of the establishment. She was a fountain of wisdom. More than forty years ago she warned me not to use commercial body lotion. “You never know what all they put in it”, she used to say. I presume that her employer upstairs had no idea that there was sabotage going on in the basement. She advised me to mix my favourite cologne with olive oil and apply it with a horse hair glove, rubbing especially hard where the dreaded cellulite was most prevalent, on the thighs. I do it to this day. She would finish off the massage with a short interlude in what I called the fire engine room: a long hall where I held on to a railing and she ran a fire hose over my body, first warm, warmer, and then cold… It felt wonderful, and I still do the cold shower after a nice warm bath, an excellent tonic and pick-me-up. Afterwards I would emerge onto the bustling Champs Elysées in a state of euphoria that lasted all day. Hélène was full of practical advice on health, food, life in France… “Never sit down to put on your socks or panty hose”, she would say. “Stand on one leg and practice keeping your balance”. It’s good advice, not so easy to follow at my age. We talked a lot about cooking and it was she who gave me the recipe for the pork dish I call: Saigon Pork Cut 2 pork fillets into slices the long way. With a sharp knife cut the slices into strips, the strips diagonally into small bits, like for stir-frying. Place into a dish. Shred a whole onion and a whole pear over the meat; add a handful of chopped dried cherries, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh ginger and 1/3 a cup of soy sauce. Stir, cover with saran wrap and marinate for at least two hours. Heat 2 tablespoons of good cooking oil (corn oil or peanut oil) in a skillet, pour the meat mixture into it and cook, stirring continuously for ten minutes, then add 1½ cups (30cl) of red wine. Simmer for another 10 minutes and serve on Jasmine rice. For a nice touch sprinkle with grilled sesame seeds.

 

Saffron Onions

In a saucepan, soak 1 teaspoon of saffron threads in 3/4 cups (15 cl) each of wine vinegar, sunflower oil and water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and 1 teaspoons of sugar.

In the meantime fill a quart size (slightly less than one liter) Mason jar with finely sliced onions. Let the saffron mixture come to a boil and quickly pour over the onions, seal, turn the jar upside down for a few minutes then back to normal position. Repeat this a few times. It is ready as soon as it cools off, but can be kept for weeks.

Once opened it should be kept in the fridge. Delicious with cold boiled beef, cheese, ham etc. You can substitute the saffron with harissa, the North African hot pepper sauce, or Tabasco. Again, jars of this make a very welcome Christmas or house-warming gift.

Wild Garlic Availability

As advertised in Harvard Magazine for Nov - Dec 2009 & Jan - Feb 2010. Wild Garlic is available from most online booksellers: to receive copies by UPS within a few days out of U.S. stock, order directly:

 

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Peggy Tolleson (October 17, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0955750903
• ISBN-13: 978-0955750908
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds

 

Christmas

"The ceiling in our music room is very high which makes it possible to put up a 5 meter tree. We used to get it from the forester, freshly cut, and he would bring it in his special truck, warning lights blazing, very exciting:"

"When my children were, well, children, we used to spend Christmas and the winter months in Davos, Switzerland. Although we were stationed in Tunisia, Paris or London, I managed to enter them into Swiss kindergarten and school system in Davos. There were so many advantages: they learned Swiss and High German and were able to ski all winter. The acquired those quaint skills, prevalent on the continent, such a making their own Christmas cards, cutting out Scherenschnitt, making little fairy walnut beds; the girls learned to knit and crochet and to do cross stitch embroidery; we all gilded dried flowers and pine cones. They were later able to impart all these arts to their own children and grandchildren. "

 

Walnut Fairy Beds

"For little fairy beds, split a walnut in half, remove the insides, then line the half shell with a little cotton. Make a tiny duvet with a piece of cloth; place a little manikin inside (draw a face on a wooden bead), drill a hole on each side of the cradle, pass the string through and hang this original ornament on the Christmas tree. "