Focusing on the Issues

 

As Bangkok's political rhetoric heats up, and bags of blood are sent to splatter, I'm sitting at home at my desk, admiring my lunch. Lunch is the only meal that many of us eat alone. Because of that, it's also one that might get the most consideration. Lunch is an island. An escape.

It's usually the only time where there is no barrier between you and your food - no small talk, no house music, no riotous crowd, no pretense. Your head isn't clouded with sleep, either. I think the best restaurant criticism I wrote was after long, solitary lunches, tasting food piece by piece and thinking about how they fit together. I remember a lot of those long lunches, glass of wine caught in the sunlight, savoring and surreptitiously scribbling notes. Restaurant dinners, I remember less.

Anyways, today I ate something at home, which seemed pretty good, and so I thought I'd share it with you. Tuna salad with onions and thyme. Chicken liver terrine with coriander root and black pepper, cooked the night before and cool from the fridge. All of it smeared on crusty bread. Perfect was all it said.      

Update: Someone sent me a note about that bread in the photo. At my own peril (I eat it several times a week, and it's hard to get) I'll share with you this secret: In Bangkok there is a bakery called Folie's, which is French owned. They have several locations. Their regular baguettes are very ordinary, but they also make something my local shopkeeper calls a 'Folie baguette' that is made from whole wheat and white flour, and is very similar to a rustic bread you might get in France. It's fantastic - yeasty with a thick, savory crust - and the Thais don't like it for that reason, I think, so theydon't sell too much of it in my shop on Nanglinchi. If you manage to track it down, you'll be eating one of the best loaves I've found in Asia (buy some French butter and get down).  

Comments

[impotenta]

omg. this food is delicious. my favorite food since childhood

[Jarrett]

Interesting, impotenta. Ive never met anyone whose favorite food since childhood was chicken livers. You are a brave eater!

[Echo]

Yum! Would you share your terrine recipe some time? Or will I be able to stop by the new restaurant for a taste :)

[Jarrett]

Hi Echo,

The terrine is still a work in progress, so I cant share the recipe just yet. But yes, thinking about serving it whenever I get this restaurant open! Ill have a lot of chicken livers that I need to do something with...