We were treated to an evening of gastronomic delight last night. My niece, Julia, served up her favourite dish at a family dinner to say goodbye to her cousins who return to Zurich today after a few weeks in the sun. It consisted of a basis of chicken, with a sauce incorporating 80 (yes) cloves of garlic, one bottle of chardonnay, some splashes of brandy and creme fraiche and other ingredients I have still to identify. Despite the amount of garlic involved, you would not have known that you were eating garlic and in fact, no one ingredient overpowered another.
For once, the entire family was silent as we savoured every mouthful. The delicacy of flavour, without being bland or insipid, could rival any sauce served at the most expensive restaurants; in fact, I thought it was considerably ahead of the pack. We literally scoured the gigantic pot to ensure that the very last morsel didn't go to waste. It was without doubt one of the best dishes I have ever tasted.
Of course, none of us are nice to be near today. The after effects of the garlic are quite potent, and I would imagine that the other passengers on the plane are going to keep a wide berth of my nephew and his wife! I have eaten a large bunch of parsley which I think did the trick as I have had no further complaints, and hope that all the other dinner guests followed suit. Garlic breath is bad enough to carve a path through a crowd without having to say, excuse me.
But this hazard notwithstanding, we are all ready to eat it again!
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