Footnotes to a Conversation, April 12, 2021
“In Just-spring when the world is mud-luscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it’s spring when the world is puddle-wonderful” – e e cummings
A Taste of Spring
What food symbolizes spring for you? For me, it’s probably fresh, locally-grown spinach (and rhubarb). By winter’s end, I’ve had my fill of root vegetables (I do try to eat local) and am longing for greens. But in other parts of the world, spring may be something else entirely – mangoes in Mexico City, kumquats in Greece, or fresh goat cheese in Provence (Oh, yes, please!). And each of these foods has a history and a story to tell that surely influences its flavour.
Another early spring crop is radishes, but they’ve never been one of my favorites. I’m planning to try the roasted radish lemony chickpea pasta in this set of 12 unusual radish recipes, but I’m not so sure about the cinnamon ice cream topped with radishes.
Creativity
I’m always fascinated by creative people and how they shape a business. A brewery in England came up with Moonshine, a successful beer that appealed to a whole range of people. They considered becoming a Moonshine factory, selling the beer in supermarkets and on a national scale. They could have made lots of money, “but we made a conscious decision not to do that, because it wasn’t fun or interesting.” Moonshine still accounts for 50% of their sales, but they also host a Funk Fest celebrating sour beers and a range of special and one-off beers – “Crossing the Threshold, a dessert stout inspired by Vietnamese steamed rice cakes, which featured additions of rice, coconut and coconut milk” or “Iced Tea Dead People—an iced-tea pale ale made with fresh peaches, hibiscus flowers and sencha tea.”
Many Saskatchewan craft breweries operate in a similar fashion and I find it interesting that unusual beers are much more common than unusual wines.
Word Play
Another form of creativity is on display in Other Wordly: Words both strange and lovely from around the world by Yee-Lum Mah and illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley. There is gökotta (Swedish), “a dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong; the act of rising in the early morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature” and hoppipolla (Icelandic), “jumping into puddles.” One of my personal favorites, because I’ve experienced it so often, is resfeber (Swedish), “the restless race of the traveller’s heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are entangled together; a ‘travel fever’ that can manifest as an illness.”
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. If you share my love of nature, I suggest you also read EcoFriendly Sask that I publish in collaboration with my brother, Andrew.
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