The "foodie" language

I might have suspected it from the stalks of rhubarb lying around.
Or the cooking wine in the fridge.
Or all the pots and pans on the stove, perched for action.


But for some reason, these clues completely evaded me as I left my new apartment the other afternoon.


Then, when I returned later, I was cutting into some delicious triple-creme cheese and peeling off sheets of prosciutto di parma to put in my bean salad...it was late and I had just returned home, having not eaten much all day...and I, not thinking very straight and trying to break the awkward silence with my new roommate, declared my love for cheese.

She laughed, then agreed with me...then she asked me detailed questions about all my food that was lying around, which prompted me to frankly ask her,

"Wait, wait, wait a second...



are you.....



a foodie?"



Her eyes widened, as if I had opened the pearly gates of epicurean wisdom.

"You know what that means?!"

I speak her language. She speaks mine.
Finally, someone in my life with whom I can shoot the breeze about reductions and coulis and compotes!

Then she offered me some vanilla bean rice pudding with poached rhubarb made from scratch, straight from the pages of Food & Wine.
um...
A) rhubarb is my favorite thing in possibly the entire world (to follow up in a later post), and
B) I'm mostly Danish and rice pudding is Denmark's specialty.

Heaven!

Not to mention, WHO in their 20s actually cooks from food magazines. Personally, my "cooking for one is a hassle" excuse reduces me to a laziness of salivating over the pictures. In short, what I eat could be seen as eclectic antipastis of whatever I'm craving du jour...usually from Costco staples (pesto, parmesan cheese, kalamata olives) filled in with the more perishable (mesclun greens, chicken, fruit etc).
i.e. a little marinated artichoke + a little cheese + a little fruit = dinner

Well, the next day, she 'whipped up a little risotto' (read: fresh asparagus and mint boiled to flavor a stock to stir into the risotto with fennel. Did I mention we're in college? Don't worry, I found the recipe)....
and contemplated aloud driving to Salt Lake to try macaroons at a new bakery.

We will be starting cooking nights soon. I'm jazzed.
If you're in town, please come over!

Photo: Food and Wine

So yes, my roomie is a foodie, and I couldn't be more excited.