Monday, August 27, 2012

Story-A-Day #424: Strange Fruits


STRANGE FRUITS

There was a potted jungle on the back deck, one full of aromatic, exotic fruits in varied shades of bloom.  The greens, yellows, oranges, and reds gave off a multitude of scents, from the earthy waft of cherry tomatoes, to a more potent curl of peppers in the humid summer air.

There were other smells too, lingering amidst the more familiar and mundane essences of grass, earth, and late summer fade out.  There were hints of curry, bitter sweet rhubarb, and extra sweet berries; and exotic memories of Italian dinners in the multitude of fresh basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary taht mingled into a perfect airborne pasta sauce seasoning.

He took a step down into the backyard and the scents intensified; so many strange fruits, spices, herbs, and more mingling into a delicious pot pourri of ingredients.

He paused for a moment by a thick, black tub and leaned in towards a tree that bounced gently under the weight of its heavy burden of scotch bonnet peppers.  He took a deep breath, but the intense heat of the peppers was apparently more linked to taste than scent.

He plucked a few peppers off the tree, then snipped some rhubarb stalks from a nearby patch.  Over the next few minutes he added a cornucopia of herbs, spices, fruits, and peppers to his small basket and slowly felt the night's meal coming together.

His favorite part of cooking was always the fusion of flavors and tastes that went into a good meal.  Those flavours were always better when fresh ingredients were used.  He plucked a couple handfuls of tomatoes, green, yellow, and bright, ripe red and slowly made his way back into the house.

These strange fruits would be a beautiful fusion.  Dinner would soon be served.

1 comment:

  1. Oh great. Now I'm STARVING and it's only 9:26 a.m.
    Beautiful imagery, so potent I can taste it. Well done.

    ReplyDelete