Caponata

5th April 2012 Thursday

The roads around the cafe where I’m meeting two dear friends for lunch are clotted with Easter holiday traffic. The car parks are full. I queue for a space and have to run to be on time. The wind is icy, sharp with rain spots. But my plate of Buffalo Mozzarella - a torn white heart in a choppy pool of Aubergine Caponata with a slab of sour dough bread is a treat. We share chocolate brownie and carrot cake afterwards, cut into threes.

My heart goes out to my friend whose father is in hospital - she’s crossing that uncertain terrain of making decisions about his care - what happens when he comes out? I remember the weight of those feelings. And now I’m on the other side of that place, across the river, in the foothills of another landscape. Without signposts.

So I take my cold to bed with a book and look up recipes for Caponata - a sweet and sour vegetable stew of tomatoes and aubergines, celery and parsley from the hot hills of Sicily. Then I’ll do what I always do to find my way back out of the shadows - cook something.