All posts by Giovanni

Breaking News: Meat & Meat

Earlier today a lady of previously close acquaintance posted a link indicating that this, March 15, is Steak and BJ Day. I blinked a couple times before going off to verify that yes, this is indeed a thing (a recently devised holiday of cult following, kind of like Talk Like A Pirate Day). I first chuckled at the cleverness of the thing, then laughed aloud that I hadn’t heard of it before and also at its hilarious site, then sighed that aside from mentioning it, there is little odds of its observance in today’s garden.

But now you know.

Avocado: Aphrodisiac?

The shape of the Avocado (again invoking the Doctrine of Signatures by different names in different cultures) and its silken, buttery texture have made it an aphrodisiac to many people for centuries. The Aztecs called it “ahuacatl” (meaning “testicle”), and considered it such a powerful sexual force that maidens were forbidden to leave their houses during the avocado harvest.avocado

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Truffles

This is a great example of the specific treatment of ingredients resulting in a particular product. That is, done a bit differently or with different proportions, you get a chocolate sauce. A little butter and you soon have a ganache. These little confections, though, named for the odd and expensive fungus they resemble, are perhaps the most essential – or quintessential – of all.

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