LORA'S CRAB FEED

No kitchen work today. I went to Lora Zarubin's cabin in Laurel Canyon for crabs and slaw, and it turned into an all-day affair.

    Lunch was heaven: six of us, 10 fat dungeness crabs (brought by Valerie and Stan) and, oh, probably 10 bottles of wine, including Lora's selection of gorgeous California chardonnays (Heitz, Melville, Ramey, an amazing 1998 Stony Hill), that flew in the face of my every snobbish preconception about flabby, over-oaked California whites. I staggered home at five o'clock for a little siesta and woke up 3 hours later, just as the sun was setting. Happy Fifth of July.

     There are relevant details to report: Lora has put down a couple of gallons of vin de pamplemousse—citrus macerated for 40 days in white wine and this and that. She learned to make it in Marseilles and has offered to show me how. Look for the recipe here soon. 

     Also I took a jar of FIG JAM WITH HONEY AND WILD AROMATICS for feedback from the food professionals. Good marks all around. Lora ate it off her finger—you know how chefs are—and declared "that's major, Hon." Valerie, who has an exceptional palette and is probably the most deliberate taster I know, complimented the flavor profile but thought it could be less sweet, which I think is probably true, since the honey really ratchets things up. 

     But here's the best part: Chris made a flan flavored with Pernod for dessert, and as the custard ran together with the jam on Valerie's plate, she had a eureka moment. "The Pernod makes it sing," she said as she tasted them together. That's the kind of thinking that separates a competent home cook like me from a master like her. But I'm not too proud to seize a good idea when I hear it, and as soon as I can I'm making a batch of FIG JAM WITH HONEY, PERNOD AND WILD AROMATICS. Stay tuned.