“Seabream, surimi, sole and snapper,” I mumbled to myself. It was one of four ‘New Broths’ advertised in a Woman’s Weekly from a year ago. “They sound interesting.”
Great Grandma Mac was snoring away peacefully in the bed at the nursing home, so I’d opened a few magazines to keep me company while I sat beside her. What is it with nursing homes, hospitals and doctor’s waiting rooms that the magazines always belong in a vintage fair? One of the mags I was leafing through for recipes was from 2002.
The brand of the broths was one I’d never heard before, but it had the words royale and fancy in the title and claimed to be made from premium cuts of seafood, so I figured they must be pretty schmick.
“Would you mind if I take these two magazines home?” I asked the night nurse. “I’ll bring them back tomorrow. I just want to photocopy some recipes.”
She looked at me a little oddly, and I gather most people don’t ask they just tear out the pages they want or flog the whole thing.
When I arrived home I showed Tracey my wonderful finds – baked apricot custards, roasted peaches with rosewater cream and chocolate and raspberry puddings.
And, of coarse, the broth I figured I could use for a risotto or soup. My mouth was literally watering as I showed her the pictures.
When I met Tracey she was strictly a meat pie and three vege sort of a girl, but slowly over the years, starting with Peking Duck, I’ve opened her taste buds to the world of flavour. She doesn’t always agree with me – blue cheese is still a no starter – but she’s usually open to trying things now. So her response was not quite what I expected.
She laughed at me.
“You’re an idiot,” she said. “Read it again.”
Tracey says she’ll be taking a little more of an interest when I cook her new little delicacies from now on, but I could have sworn the bit which says ‘a decadent silky broth your cat will love’ wasn’t there before.
When not typing away over here and checking his stats every two minutes Bruce Devereaux hangs out at his ‘BIG FAMILY little income’ Facebook Page.
’raising a family on little more than laughs’