“Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant” is the title of a book I read
recently. The editor says in the intro
that it is “an anthology of essays on cooking for one and dining alone that
could function as a cookbook as well as a lifting-off point for readers to
follow their instincts and create their own idiosyncratic meals.” Since Jenni Ferrari-Adler did not ask me
for my essay for her book, I decided to record my own idiosyncratic
meal here.
Before I get to that I need to
clarify a few points. Unlike some of the
essayists, I would not think about what’s for dinner at 7:30 p.m. Dinner comes to my mind almost the moment my
eyes open in the morning, sometimes even before then. Second, if I had to think
of one dish that would suffice as dinner in a pinch it would definitely not be salad.
Don’t get me wrong I like salad. However, I believe most vegetables are paired
best with meat and gravy. Lastly, I
never eat alone. Even if no one is at
the table with me I find good companionship by reading a book.
Now for that idiosyncratic meal…I
would cook up some macaroni, drain it and then add a healthy dose of Velveeta
to be set it aside so it gets all happy.
The first dish eaten would be mandarin oranges, speared by fork right
out of the can as I stand near the stove sauteing my second dish of mushrooms, onion
and garlic topped with a little salt and pepper. The main dish would be that macaroni
swimming in melted, gooey Velveeta. Yes,
dessert is not on the menu. In my mind,
dessert (or pie in particular) is eaten only at breakfast.
This meal takes me back to the
days when I would forage for food in my mother’s kitchen, when my joy of
cooking was just awakening. Mandarin
Oranges were considered a delicacy. Mushrooms
were exotic (they were only sold in the can back then. Today I prefer fresh.). And Velveeta (otherwise known as pasteurized
process cheese food) was cheap, filling, comfort food.
So for the record there’s my "i" meal and essay. Chew it over and let me know.