Pic and a Word #148: Nice gesture

Another tribute to my celebrating sister and all who cook since feeding others is a gesture of true love for humanity.

This is how my sister prepared for her party last night: by making three kinds of savoury pastry called burek, one with potatoes, one with cabbage and one with pumpkin. Feeding others is one of her greatest strengths and loveliest gestures. Thank you, they were brilliant.

Have a look at some photo evidence of that and then read the poem below which is an anecdote about an online encounter with another chef and another gesture.

Pumpkin and cabbage.

Looks like mango! With Piran in the background.

Burek has come to Slovenia from Turkey by way of the Balkans.

Another pumpkin is waiting.

Food makes my parents’ kitchen highly photogenic.

All ready now. One of these has a secret ingredient. Not telling since it might become sister’s signature dish.

Umami

The nation’s top food critic
who is actually a cool alter family guy
posts a recipe for burnt cabbage
on his chronically under-read blog.
I have half a head hoarding my fridge
so after checking the date of posting
lest it’s April the first
I thank him
and ask if it’s possible to replace an alga he uses
with anything at all
since I’m low on algae at the moment.
He says I can simply skip it altogether.
It’s only there for some umami.
Right, I say.
So instead
I can just cut myself into it,
I suggest helpfully.
The silence is deafening.
Some things are not to be
said out loud.

In response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #148: Gesture