Startling, I know. But the dinner I cooked for my guests was utterly fabulous. The salmon was tender and moist; the roasted spring vegetables delicious; the haricot vert crisp and fresh; the mint vinegarette delightful. Really.
The only mistake I made was with the frigging "celeriac". I don't know what the hell celeriac is supposed to look like so I just bought some strange looking thing from the root vegetable section, hoping for the best. It wasn't celeriac. It was gross. I think it was some kind of root-herb thing because it tasted like shit. But I let my guests spit it out politely into their spring-green napkins and we carried on regardless.
The next evening, David—my flat-mate, father figure, and personal chef—arrived home from crossing the glacier. His poor face was dropping off in crusty chunks from frost-bite and he was rather exhausted, having spent a week blindly pulling a sled through a howling blizzard. So I made the exact same meal again for him. He was a bit bewildered by the sudden change in me ("you're all grown up! I go away for one week and you learn how to cook!") but delighted by the results ("this salmon is delicious, mmm, mmm, mmm mmm mmm mmm" etc). I'm quite relieved: I had begun to feel a tad guilty about making a joke of his impending death, and yet hadn't wanted to delete that post from my blog had he actually fallen down a crevasse and died. I hate deleting posts.
So yes, next time you're hosting a dinner party, forget Jamie Oliver's forums, just drop by my blog and pick up some tips from me.
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Ask David if, just before arriving at Jöklasel cabin at Skálafelsjökull on friday in the fog, he and his mates were passed by 5 or 6 jeeps wizzing through the snow. If so you can tell him that I was in the backseat of the last one ;). But I expect there are hundreds of people crossing Vatnajökull on skis at any given time, and maybe a thousand jeeps for that matter...
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons we thought he might die was because of the JEEPS, Ingó! I can't believe you nearly contributed to his impending death.
ReplyDeleteHe said they whizz past so fast, and if the weather is bad they just don't see you, and the next thing you know, you're dead.
He said he saw quite a few jeeps but hardly anybody skiing.