77. At The Table, One Does Not Grow Old 🍽️
Welcome to The Dossier #77! Seven has been my lucky (and favourite) number for as long as I can remember. This newsletter has been sent to you at 7:07am (EU time), just for fun.
Welcome new friends 😊
Buongiorno friends,
It’s Sunday.
I hope this email finds you eating, or watching someone delicious preparing their own version of delicious food to eat with you today. 😁
Here’s five things you may find interesting and/ or meaningful.
1. Reading 📖
The dinner table, as a sixth love language.
2. Manifesting 🍴
The Power of The Table - Italy Segreta
A tavola non s’invecchia
At the table, one does not grow old.
//
The great journalist, restaurant critic and author AA Gill once said that the most important discovery known to mankind was the invention of the dining table, and that the most important thing we all do as a species is sit around that table with others and eat. The reason is this – everything worth saying, doing or knowing happens with people we love around a kitchen or dining table. It is about socialising and connecting over the minutiae of our day. It is a space for arguing, discussing issues, laughing and loving. When people have a plate in front of them, they talk – they unload and relax. Food is about memory and emotion.
The Italians understand this more than in other places where this tradition is losing steam. They know that while what we eat is crucial, what’s really important is how we eat.
3. Baking 🍋
Mina Stone’s Super Lemony Olive Oil Cake via Wonder Valley.
“This olive oil cake is lemony and creamy, and one of my favourite things about the cake is the colour. When you dive past the crunchy, golden brown exterior, you are met with a soft, yellow interior that tastes divine.”
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INGREDIENTS:
11⁄2 cups (350 ml) extra virgin olive oil plus more for the pan
3 eggs
11⁄4 cups (250 g) plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
11⁄4 cups (295 ml) whole milk Juice and zest of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for serving
RECIPE:
Preheat the oven to 350oF (180oC). Lightly oil a 9-inch springform cake pan, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, and oil again.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, and sugar until smooth. Whisk in the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour in the olive oil mixture, whisking to combine. Start with small circles that get larger as you incorporate more dry and wet batter.
Whisk until mostly smooth—some lumps are OK. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and
a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool and serve at room temperature garnished with powdered sugar and extra lemon zest if
you have it.
4. Loving ❤️🔥
The latest addition to my ongoing Alessi love affair.
“Like a fabric that a thick pleating transforms into a three-dimensional shape, this kettle is reminiscent of an haute couture dress, a beautiful object to be left on display on your kitchen top.”
5. A Poem 💌
A Voice from I Don’t Know Where — Mary Oliver
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It seems you love this world very much.
“Yes,” I said. “This beautiful world.”
And you don’t mind the mind, that keeps you
busy all the time with its dark and bright wonderings?
“No, I’m quite used to it. Busy, busy,
all the time.”
And you don’t mind living with those questions,
I mean the hard ones, that no one can answer?
“Actually, they’re the most interesting.”
And you have a person in your life whose hand
you like to hold?
“Yes, I do.”
It must surely, then, be very happy down there
in your heart.
“Yes,” I said. “It is.”
See you next Sunday.