It is enough about my new routine. This blog aims to start a series of blogs to say farewell to Andreas, with a set of topics. I select those topics to refresh the different memories about and facets of Andreas, as a humanbeing, as a curious person, as someone who simply loves life passionately, as a fighter, and as an annoying "collecter".
Today's topic is food. I made some grønnsakesuppe (vegetable soup) another day and had it for 3 consecutive days, as we used to do in the past whenever Andreas cooked it. Not quite my style, as I like to have a different taste on my palate every day. But some exceptions can been made for the vegetable soup, and Bolognese sauce. Ah, Andrea's Bolognese sauce may be my favorite food of all, for its taste and for its versatility. Andreas usually made it in bulk. We would usually start the dish with some freshly cooked al dente spaghetti, and the sauce later found its way to lasagna and pizza and even toasted bread. Another reason I love it so much, is that it has so many fresh and in season ingrediencies and the thinking of its health benefits give me great comfort. Yes, I am a bit critical on what man should be eating. Andreas often complimented me that I helped him eat better, and that may be true I have to say. And I also knew he sometime would enjoy a gas station hot dog more than a greenly stir fry. It was never a serious topic or debate for us though but I hope I did not put too much pressure on him for that. He never complained. And he seemed happy with whatever was offered.
Andreas and I both loved cooking at home. He could spend hours cooking for me or for friends. It was almost like meditation. It at some point went quite extreme that we could not even come up with a local restaurant to recommend to our visiting friends, who were willing to try some local cuisine. It was quite embarrassing. No big deal though. Nevertheless, it was hard to keep up the innovation pace in terms of cooking at home, and ideas of our own ran out pretty fast. We started a weekday plan to help us find ideas. Monday will be soup day, Tuesday seafood, Wednesday no shopping day, Thursday Andreas's the boss. Friday to Sunday were never put into the plan for some reason I cannot recall. Andreas was good at finding interesting recipes for his cooking duty, while I was more of freestyle person that enjoyed improvisation in the kitchen. In fact, I took it as a challenge and enjoyed using whatever was found in the fridge and made something out of it. Andreas was good at giving me compliment and I gradually became better at it and enjoyed more from the process. And I had a trick: everything instantly got better for Andreas as long as I put some extra chili and pepper in the dish.
Andreas was not picky in general, but there were things that he would never try himself, especially food with jelly-like texture. I have to admit that I have a bad habit and there is a stubborn side of me. I simply, arrogantly, believe that good (for me) is good (for him and everyone). I would try different ways to hide weird ingrediencies into a dish, with some cutting and processing. Andreas was often surprised to have enjoyed the dish, without knowing what was in it until I told him. Naughty me, but I did like challenge him in that way. Some fun in life, and it did not hurt anyone.
Weekend breakfast used to be something special. It has to be served in bed, like a royal married woman would like. I never really fancied the idea eating food in bed, but it was a nice tradition of ours. Who said that cliché stuff, it was not about what you do, but who you do it with. So true. It also may took too long time before food was served. We either tried too hard to impress each other, or simply wanted to make something really nice. Again, Andreas was often on the creative side and often went quite far in terms of ingrediencies as well as cooking method. When he cooked, I would be responsible for the meal time entertainment content. Then he spent an hour cooking the meal, and we finished it in 5 minutes, while the film had barely started.
What else I want to say here. Some other dishes we cooked quite often, as a reminder for my own sake: pot sticker dumplings, Thai red curry with salmon, tomato soup with cooked eggs and fresh basil, creamy cauliflower soup with fried green onion finish, teriyaki tofu with long beans, fish balls with white sauce, vegiterian moussaka, risotto with parmesan and roasted tomato, spaghetti with green pesto and roasted pine tree nut, Mexican chillies, creamy fish soup, pokibowl with teriyaki salmon/tofu and homemade onion pickels, hot pot, coma curry, buttery chicken, fårikål, jordskokkssuppe with scallop, paella, enchiladas, fiskgrateng, Beyond burge with homemade fries, phad thai, grove fiskkaker from Lofoton, curry chicken soup with coconut milk and shredded root vegetables, and so on.
Yeah. not a bad start, I think. See you later, alligator.
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