Food for the Soul, Food for the Body

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I wouldn't want to live in a world without books. Books, and reading, have been such a major part of my life. I survived (and I use that word for it's truest meaning) childhood & adolescence partly because I could escape into a worlds more pleasant, simply by opening the cover of a book.

I will read anything. Matt & I talk about needing little more than 'words in a row' to be happy.

I admit that I've always been drawn to detective stories. Not the mass-produced stories, where there's little plot but lots of WORDS. I don't care for many of the authors and stories out there today.

But I do love a good detective book. I adore Dashiell Hammett. Agatha Christie and I became friends decades ago.

But someone I've only recently gotten into, yet love very much, is Rex Stout. He gave us Nero Wolfe, an agoraphobic, orchid-obsessed, gourmand genius.

The stories are compelling, the style, the prose, captivating. But what really sold me was the food

Stout, and through him, Wolfe, love food. Food and cooking. Debating with his chef over the use of juniper berries in the marinade for venison. Admitting that 40 minutes is too long to expect the average housewife to spend scrambling eggs, but it really must be done to achieve perfection.

Insisting that corn be no more than three hours old when it is delivered to his home, else it is useless, animal feed.

And in cooking that corn, do not, my dear friends, shuck that corn and place it in a pot of boiling water.

Wolfe feels that housewives across American should themselves be boiled in water for committing such an offense.

No, to achieve perfection, corn should be placed into a hot oven, unshucked, and roasted for 40 minutes. Peel at the table and slather with butter. Nothing more.



I have to confess: the old boy was right. This was the sweetest, most succulent corn I've ever had. We roasted the ears in a 400 degree over for exactly 40 minutes, and the smell was so intoxicating I could barely wait.

In fact, the waiting is an issue. The corn smells and looks so good, it's difficult to wait for the internal temperature to drop to a point where it doesn't actually hurt your teeth to eat it.

But the pain? Almost worth it.







Blog Party#26 is coming, and this month, we're focusing on What's Inside! All your favorite appetizers with something to hide, and drinks, too...if you can manage!
Entries are due THIS Thursday, 20 September; hope to see you there!




Tagged with: Food and Drink + Corn + Books + Rex Stout + Nero Wolfe