The Stars and the Cookie Jar

I? Have a favourite TV show?

Yes!

It's called Firefly, and it dispenses with the unfulfilled-conspiracy crap The X-Files tried to feed one, and it's kind of like Red Dwarf but intelligible, and it's linguistically consistent with what would happen if China stopped being quirkily politically blindered and became a superpower, and it's witty like Buffy without that bunnyfaced Sarah Michelle Gellar. I can't stand blondes.

Of course it was also viciously cancelled, apparently several years ago.

Bring me illicit copies of your Firefly DVD's.

... as much about the gathering of ingredients, the making of the thing, and the giving of it, as it is about eating.

I like cuisine. I like cooking, and I like eating. I like the taste of food, I like new ingredients, I like seasonal cooking and slow cooking and I love going to a good market. The process of preparing food and sharing it fascinates me. The reasons we go out of our way to prepare certain dishes at certain times enthralls me even more. I want to know the stories, the lore behind the foods we cook for ourselves and eat with our familes and friends.

What does comfort food mean to you? Macaroni and cheese? Congee? Calas or callaloo? When you celebrate, is there gefilte fish or doro wat or doughboys? Do you go out for pad woon sen or just make it at home the way your grandmother did, with extra fish sauce?

I want to write a book of noodle bowls and madeleine pans and chowder kettles. I want to explore the stories that everyone has about the dishes they love, and especially I want the chance to make those dishes myself and share them with my loved ones too.

So in comments, post your recipe and your anecdote to go with it! I can't wait to see what comes up.