“There is not city But the city within. No door, but the door To simple wisdom. We walk, dumb As newborns. Into the tremendous and endless Blessing.” – from ‘The Hinge’ by Cynthia Cruz Last night was sweltering, the heat of the day barely letting up. And despite their exhaustion, the kids weren’t interested in […]
If you’re not interested in a quick side of politics with your panzanella, scroll down now. If you are, though, let’s take just the briefest of moments to celebrate the solidarity, where around the world millions of women stood up against racism and hate-mongering, stood up for the rights of the marginalised. Critique and reservations […]
“Things have a life of their own,” the gypsy proclaimed with a harsh accent. “It’s simply a matter of waking up their souls.” – from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Over a decade ago now I spent some months in Colombia. I travelled from Ecuador up through the green coffee-clad mountains to the […]
Not that long ago, a special occasion called for booze and parties, wild costumes and late nights/early mornings. In these present days of small children and being all grown up, special occasions are mostly food-based. Afternoon barbecues, civilised early dinners, pancake breakfasts, brunch. Which is alright by me, truth be told. I like going to […]
Last month I loaded the kids onto the train and headed a couple of hours south for a long weekend in Byron Bay with various members of my family. It was still blistering hot, so we spent three days lazing on the sand, taking walks, cooling off in the ocean, drinking coffee, swimming in the […]
“The smell of manure, of sun on foliage, of evaporating water, rose to my head; two steps further, and I could look down into the vegetable garden enclosed within its tall pale of reeds – rich chocolate earth studded emerald green, frothed with the white of cauliflowers, jeweled with the purple globes of eggplant and […]
It was bigger than an emu’s dark brown egg But smooth and glossy. Its outside was curiously hard If you picked it up. Like a turtle egg it bowed With a sort of elasticity to the touch. I dug A fingernail in. Beneath the purple surface. The taste, we knew, would be strange, perhaps poisonous. […]
Green tea soup – ochazuke – is one of my favourite Japanese dishes. Traditionally, it is served with rice and salted fish (usually salmon) as well as nori or another type of sea vegetable. Ochazuke is a kind of un-cooking. You prepare the elements in advance but then it all comes together at the last […]
