Quarterly Review: Ash April Lesson Learned

There’s a fine line between creative and crazy.

This rainbow food movement has been my baby for 4 months. Like many new mothers, I embarked on this journey quite unprepared. I am not a trained chef. I am not an experienced baker. I wouldn’t even claim to be an especially good cook. I am, however, in love with food.

The sizzle of searing steak.

The aroma of baking bread.

The crunch of crisp caramel.

The taste of pumpkin pie.

Food is one of the most satisfying sensory experiences known to man. This fascination is what first sparked my idea for a color-themed food blog. But take heed. When relationships are rooted in infatuation, logic and reason are not considered. The thought of a color-themed culinary project was so enthralling that I never stopped to consider the feasibility (or basic appeal) of certain color schemes. Colors like…..grey.

Ash April…it even sounds sad. I wouldn’t call the month’s meal a colossal fail. It’s just terribly unappealing to eat plates of all grey food. Especially when you live in landlocked Iowa and don't have access to the best grey foods - oysters, sardines, tuna, or any other fresh seafood! What’s ironic is that my food flavors were actually quite delicious! Especially the earl-grey chocolate cake! But for a project like this that’s literally based on the notion of “eating with your eyes first”, grey is anticlimactic. 

Here’s what the meal involved:

Crispy Lavash Cracker Bread with a Black Fig, Black Olive, and Goat Cheese Tapenade (Note - I used pine nuts rather than the listed walnuts). 

Roasted Lentil and Eggplant Soup with crispy sage and sour cream.

Grilled Whole Trout with lemon and herbs (fresh caught that morning by my beloved husband!)

Squid Ink Pasta with shrimp and cream sauce. Squid ink is a very popular ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine (especially Spain and Italy). I'll never forget tasting it for the first time at a local restaurant in the Cinque Terre. The briny tang felt like a whiff of fresh sea - salty and complex but still mild and delicious. The link above is very close to what I ended up making for my grey month; though I was forced to use shrimp since I do not have access to quality scallops, crab, or other fresh seafood. Below are pictures of the pasta being made, as well as the finished product.

Earl Grey Chocolate Cake with "Grey" Cream Cheese Frosting.

In addition to this grey-themed meal, I did find one new culinary delight this month. Black Sesame Gelato! I stumbled across this amazing creation after attending Easter service at the National Cathedral in Washington DC (http://dolcezzagelato.com/). My friends and I were window shopping after the memorable service when we spotted the alluring store front: "Churros, Coffee, Gelato..."! The ads had us drooling so pathetically that the gracious shop attendant opened more than a half an hour early just to serve us. Since we were then the only people buying gelato at 10:30 am on Easter Sunday, we had the shop to ourselves and were able to taste a variety of gelatos. With "grey" on my mind, I couldn't resist trying the black sesame gelato. The toasted flavor sang through, creating a smokey finish that was distinctly "sesame seed" while still reminiscent of creamy peanut butter cups.

Before closing, let me share a final "grey" though. Below is a poem I wrote last year. It's an ironic parallel to this month's meal: interesting and thought-provoking, but still melancholy. For a multisensory experience, read the poem while listening to Counting Crows, "Colorblind" and Dave Matthews', "Grey Streets".  

RIDING THE LINE

I live in the grey zone

Always somewhere between black and white

Dwelling in a world of “maybe”

Never steering too near the box

Avoiding labels like

         Close-minded, Intolerant, Arrogant

Grey used to feel ideal

Like assuming a chameleon’s coat

Acknowledging all arguments

Considering every angel

Striving to always be

         Perceptive, Unpretentious, Respectful

But shifting gets shifty

Neutral hues neither shimmer nor shine

Unlike it’s silver stepsister

Grey reflects very little light

Captures little sunshine

         Colorless, Discouraging, Ominous

So should I linger here?

Riding the peaks between black and white?

In this wave of ambivalence

I fear a foreboding flat-line

Life with no legacy

         Ambiguous, Anonymous, Aged

By Miriam Lind (Discerning My Destiny)

P.S. If you liked this poem, check out the one I recently added to my "Mocha Madness" post!