sweetgum, floating words, eating by color
Soon, slender purple kale stems slicked with olive oil rested on top of strands laced with minced raw garlic from purplish paper shells, roasted cauliflower, and Italian tuna packed in oil from an oblong tin, a treasure from the cupboard.
This particular purple kick can be traced to a fish taco on Saturday at the Brooklyn Flea, where purple cabbage was a vehicle for tomatillo and crema sauces—I consider the fish taco my lucky flea market charm that led to a handmade vintage dress in a piscine pattern (I’ll point it out in a future post).
Heading into Manhattan, I watched as words floated in the rain as this artist set up mobiles in Union Square, the adjectives attaching themselves fleetingly to tourists as they ducked past, and I walked into the wholly wonderful new film about fantastic foxes that felt as vintage as that dress.
On Sunday, I stepped past Sweetgums in their frantic final burst of color,
marveling at the difference a side makes (I tend to like the B side of leaves),
and the fruit that I have never understood.
In DUMBO in Brooklyn, still suffering from lobster withdrawal from my stay in Maine, I yielded to lobster grits at the Red Hook Lobster Pound stand.
And looking at this order much like the red and yellow sides of leaves, I saved the lobster pieces for last, eating the golden grits around them bound with butter and Parmesan.
Now I sit and mull the Thanksgiving menu for next week here in Brooklyn, sorting complementary colors for the full spectrum of food cravings I expect to arrive for a holiday focused on food, the family we inherit, and the family we choose…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009, 10:55 pm * Filed in brooklyn, Food, Leaves, Market. * Tags: brooklyn, fall, Food, kristen, kthread, Leaves, park, prospect, purple, red, taylor, yellow. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:08 am
I savored the queer conclusion. My Thanksgiving will include a cross-country flight followed by a meal and drinks out in WEHO. Chosen family TBA.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Thank you, Ben, and safe travels—nice that you can pick which seasons to savor as well with your new location base. Look forward to seeing who makes the cut in your chosen family (you’re always in mine)—
November 18th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Beautiful fish taco. The purple suits it well.
Will you be having another ROLYAT Thanksgiving, complete with a dancing video? I do hope so!
November 18th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
What is it about the cooling temperatures that induce color-inspired cooking? Last winter I tasked Jeremy and myself to create colored soups, we would pick a color, and invent a soup. It was a satisfying exercise to all the senses….
I want to eat your food soon.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Mica, it’s an Orphan Thanksigiving for me this year in Brooklyn (I’m the orphan). With any luck, there will be dancing and some of the guests are partial to wigs. ROLYAT Holiday returns in December this year. And when are you in Virginia? Hope we overlap there—
Emily, I think that sounds like an amazing food color game for the winter—I’m thinking about colored cauliflower soups for Thanksgiving (partly to continue the purple kick), will need your expertise—
February 1st, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Hi Kristen,
Do you know the name of the artist that sells the mobiles in Union Square? I love them and want to get one for a friend….its wonderful to see such inspiring words floating from your bedroom ceiling :)
February 1st, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Maria, I don’t know the artist’s name, but I just saw his mobiles at the Union Square Greenmarket two Saturdays ago. I’ll stop when I go next time and post his info here—what a nice gift idea for your friend!