I've had great meals at some nice restaurants, but the best meal that first comes to mind was freshly-cooked rice and open-fire grilled pork belly seasoned with salt and pepper dipped in palm coconut vinegar, all served on a plate of just-cut banana leaf. I must've been 9 and we had taken a hike with my parents to clear the brush off our small parcel of land on a hill; we were tired and hot and starving, and this meal and the family bonding in that remote still wilderness was a moment frozen in time.
My current drink of choice:
In the summertime, Mojitos with fresh mint from my garden and really good rum from the islands. Otherwise, I am just now discovering beer (not the regular 6-pack kind, that is).
I really wish I could:
Be a buyer of new food items for Dean & Deluca. I'd be a modern-day Vasco de Gama, scouring the world for undiscovered gastronomic delights.
My "Go-to" dinner party dish:
Beef tenderloin, rare, au jus, served with buttermilk mashed potatoes seasoned with roasted garlic and a hint of horseradish.
My favorite comfort food:
Jiff creamy peanut butter on fresh enriched white bread
My most tattered cookbooks:
The Cake Bible, Desserts by Nancy Silverton, The Key to Chinese Cooking (Irene Kuo)
