Black South-Eaters

The best Eggs Benedict, the best Burger and the best Tiramisu those are what comprises my holy trinity of foods and have led me to many a strange locale in search of finding the ‘best’ of these three basic meals.

Did I really have the best Eggs Benedict in the Virgin Lounge in London Heathrow and did it have anything to do with the blurry night before in Edinburgh and a crying baby on the inward leg or was this really the best Eggs Benedict? Then there was a time when I was stuck in Miami’s central business district snuggly hanging out at the restaurant bar across the street from our hotel, ordering espresso, grappa and ‘Marie’s Tiramisu’ which surpassed all that was eaten before. And did we (Mr BSE and I) really often find ourselves in ‘the mall’ in a snotty little suburb ordering ‘that’ hamburger together with the then hard to find Pilsner Urquel professing that it was one of the best burgers we had eaten.

It wouldn’t be a holy grail without some war stories and here is potentially the latest; a recipe that has caught my myopic eye: Jenny’s Marriage Proposal Enticing Tiramisu. It is something that I discovered and have yet to try, in the Jazzanova Homecooking recipe booklet.

On two occasions, blanko marriage proposals were declared to the person who had this Tiramisu. Both proposals were declined, in mutual agreement and with the ‘assertations’ that this episode wouldn’t affect the existing friendships in any way. The Tiramisu got a little legendary, people threatened with not showing up at Jenny’s parties if she wouldn’t promise to make Tiramisu…

3 eggs
4 tablespoons of honey
300-400g mascarpone
2 round sponge cakes, ca. 1,5 cm think
1 cup of espresso (cold)
1 cup of hot chocolate (cold)
Real cacao powder

Separate egg yolk from egg white. Beat egg yolk with honey until frothy.
Mix thoroughly with mascarpone. Beat egg white until stiff. Gently mix with mascarpone mix.
Fill 1/3 of mascarpone mix in a round form, put first layer of sponge cake on top and drizzle half of cold espresso and half of cold hot chocolate over the sponge cake. If you like, you can also add a little Ameretto to the espresso.

Add a second layer of another third of mascarpone mix, then again sponge cake with all the drizzling of cacao and espresso, put the final layer of the last third of the mascarpone on top.

Dredge final layer of mascarpone with dark cacao powder.

Cool Tiramisu for at least three hours in the fridge.

Now I wonder if women only make this Tiramisu and propose on Leap Years in order to find happiness or can’t they wait?

Footnote:

We haven’t tried Jenny’s Marriage Proposal Enticing Tiramisu yet but don’t let that stop you from turning it into an adventure.

I’ve got a hangover cure, because the older you get the more necessary it does become. Trust me, it just does as the metabolism slows down.

I try to always have mint and ginger in my fridge – not for cocktails, but for teas and more specifically teas for hangovers.

This is my secret:

• One big cup of tea: Two x Green tea bags; one bunch of mint leaves and a slice of raw ginger and let it brew.
• Then drink.
• Then two bananas.
• Then work your way through a litre of water slowly.
• Then another cup of green- mint- ginger tea.
• Then a good bar of chocolate with an espresso.
• Then another couple of bananas and a 500ml pure orange juice drink.
• Then a few pills: a combination generally of Vitamin B and C, and maybe even a couple of Panados.

Give it three hours from start to finish and you’ll be ready for world domination again once it’s done.

No need for greasy eggs, which does help the cause but is not always available. This is a hangover cure that can be administered at work in an open-plan office environment. You don’t need fresh mint or ginger, just the equivalent teabags. Water, bananas, chocolate, espresso and vitamins are all totally acceptable at your desk.

Share your hangover secrets here!

BSE says: That’s a lot of banana! I go the soft boiled egg route. It’s clean and I love the way the hot yolk explodes against the palate. I swear, two of those in the morning and within minutes I am fine. For the cosmopolitan effect, have an Ameretto afterwards, or perhaps some Gammel Dansk.

I had my first Bellini when I got to go left on a Virgin Atlantic flight, a pre-take-off complimentary cocktail. It was made with Prosecco, peach purée and some ‘secret’ ingredient. And there began a love affair with this perfect Summeresque cocktail and me trying to figure out what exactly was that secret ingredient.

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Many people poo-poo snoek. ‘It’s too bony,’ some whine. ‘It’s too fishy,’ say others.

Snoek is a great fish, and investing some patience in bone-detection carries large rewards: chunks of delicious, irresistible fishy goodness. With the bones, there’s no quick guide – practise and experience is what you need, or soul. Of course you can get snoek paté (vis-smeer, fish paste) at any old market nowadays – and it’s good – but where’s the sense of achievement in that?

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