Gathering

The rain came down in torrents last night and well into this morning. I tumbled out of bed with some ideas, and some energy to burn off before settling down. I have hours of quiet work to do today, and I want to put up some Chutney this week, the perfect autumn double task for working and cooking at the same time.

A marbled foie gras terrine served with fig chutney, pain d’épice toast with a foie gras and green apple chutney topping, a Meaux mustard liégeois with red tuna tartare, oysters and tomato chutney, lobster with mango chutney, veal sweetbreads with coarse ground black pepper served with a morel chutney, beet ravoili with rhubarbe and dried fruit and nut chutney, these images have hovered on the horizon in the past months.

A quick trip to the market at dawn to see what this rainy Tuesday morning has to offer, cornered by Madame Arthaud with the epic story of how it took 20 years to get the handles changed on the front door. "One learns to exercise patience," she mutters in the midst of her journey. I am back home, still early. The fixings will be gathered, bit by bit, to make a few jars of a nice little autumn chutney that we will be able to enjoy through the winter.

I have plums, onions and shallots (tons), green apples, tomatoes, dates (something new), and ginger. Tomorrow I will gather a bit more and soon I'll be peeling and chopping. I still haven't settled on a recipe yet. Just gathering.