April 20, 2007
There is a fierce wind today and as I type this I can look out of the high windows to watch gray and pink clouds moving very quickly across a pale blue sky. The branches of the cottonwood off to the southeast are filling up with aerodynamically prudent blackbirds all facing into the wind. Alphie is lying here with his head resting on the sill of the open south window and Charles is finishing off last week’s Sunday New York Times. This is a tranquil ending to a week where death arrived inexplicably to some people, while others were spared just as inexplicably. Humanity tries to grasp the meaning of such events and through all the interviews and analysis and media coverage, there is a sense of seeking tidiness and order that cannot be found in a complicated and messy world.
After this round of Chemotherapy my tongue has lost much of its ability to discern tastes. The sensation is like having scalded it with a drink of a too hot beverage, and it has improved only a little by this 33rd day. I told daughter Janna and was bemoaning the fact that as an avid cook, I miss this sense more than any other loss to date. She determined that perhaps some pungent cheeses might call my taste buds to attention and ordered some for me. The British descriptive paragraph reads as follows: Stinking Bishop – Select Cut – Winner of the 2001 Best Exported British Cheese Award, Stinking Bishop is a washed rind cheese dating back to the Cistercian monks who once settled in Dymock where this cheese is made. Washed in fermented pear juice (also called “Perry”), the cheese develops a stinky, pungent, orange-colored, sticky rind. Named after the Stinking Bishop pear varietal, this cheese is a spectacular dairy experience.
Janna also ordered a cheese from France which has this description: “Made in a tiny town in the Burgundy region of France, Epoisses is one of the great cheeses of the world. It is a name-controlled cheese that has a very pungent aroma and rich, creamy interior.” The scent is presented this way: “Please beware: Epoisse is so stinky that it is banned on public transportation in France, a country usually tolerant of such aromas. This aroma will prevail in the box on arrival, so don’t be alarmed.” The Italian cheese carries this information: “Taleggio’s soft, incredibly flavorful interior is creamy in texture and has a pungent aroma. The cheese imparts the essence of the Italian countryside in such a demonstrative manner that you could swear you were sitting among the cows on a grassy hillside in Lombardy.”
Now this gathering of pungence from around the world would never have occurred to me, and there is something wonderful about adding a daughter’s creative moments into the texture of my days. I am looking forward greatly to the delivery of these viands and I will surely wish to share them with all my family and friends.