Friday, November 08, 2002

Aïgo Bouïdo; or, How Three Gimlets Made Julie a Very Bad Cook. So the situation was this: the LMDC press guy was being thrown a surprise birthday party.  And I was really torn, because on the one hand I wanted to demonstrate that I was “part of the team,” not a stick in the mud, etc, but on the other hand was it important enough to me that I was willing to go to a bar and make myself like the socially inept ass that I indeed am?  Besides, there was cooking to do!  In the end I figured, well, one drink.  Then I’ll go.  Only of course this is a surprise party, so of course I have to wait for the surprise-ee, and he was late, so I went ahead and had second, and by then, oh my goodness, all it takes is two gimlets and suddenly I’m having fun.  With co-workers, no less!  (This is how the martini lunch evolved.)  So, what the hell, one more. I never forgot my obligations, however.  Just as soon as I’d gulped down my third gimlet, I headed straight home.  As Eric heroically made no reproach for leaving him hungry and alone, I sheepishly opened MtAoFC to Aïgo Bouïdo, garlic soup.  Oh, how I’d been looking forward to this soup!  It was simple to make, and most likely a magnificent hangover deterrent.  I just broke up a head of garlic and boiled the unpeeled cloves for a moment, then put them in a pot with water, olive oil, sage, thyme, bay leave and parsley, and boiled that for thirty minutes.  While that was happening I beat some egg yolks in a bowl, then beat in olive oil to make a kind of (sort of) mayonnaise/aioli.  I beat the hot, strained soup into that, and that was the end of it. Only the recipe said it served 6 to 8, and here I was with one bowlful of soup.  Turns out “two quarts of water” had somehow transformed in my gimlet-addled brain to “two cups.”  Or “half a quart.”  Who knows what logic I was operating with.  Plus, I hadn’t peeled the garlic cloves which I was supposed to do after initially boiling them, which wasn’t such a big deal, since I strained the soup anyway, but it does illustrate the level of cognitive power at my disposal at the time. In any case, the soup was godawful.  I add some more water and careful warmed it, and after that it was edible, even okay, but there is no question that it was far from the glory that I know Aïgo Bouïdo can be. I get to make it again next week, with poached eggs.  But it won’t be the same, I just know it. The moral, children, is this – Drinking Will Rob You of Great Culinary Possibilities. (Oh so hey, in case you missed it, here's a very insightful piece into the nature of lobsters... 7:28:18 AM    comment []