Loving a Potato

Standing over the cutting board, I hold the red potato firmly with my left hand. I feel its roundness, the smooth coolness of its skin.

Slice.

The flesh is firm.

Slice, slice, slice.

I pour all my love into slicing this potato.

Something is happening to me. I can't even slice a potato anymore without oozing love.

So when I begin reading The Supper of the Lamb, I am relieved. Comforted. I feel understood. Capon says this...

Turn a statue over to a boor, and his boredom will break it to bits— witness the ruined monuments of antiquity. On the other hand, turn a shack over to a lover; for all its poverty, its lights and shadows warm a little and its numbed surfaces prickle with feeling.

Or... peel an orange. Do it lovingly— in perfect quarters like little boats, or in staggered exfoliations like a flat map of the round world, or in one long spiral, as my grandfather used to do. pp.4-5

So I am not alone in loving a potato. Even old men know the mystery that is just now in my heart.


Potatoes with Rosemary

I love to cook with ingredients that are fresh from the farmer's market. These potatoes have spring onions, sweet beyond imagining. And rosemary from my garden.

Saute in oil until golden and set aside:

• 2 medium sized spring onions, sliced chunky, including some of green stalks


Saute until tender, about 15-20 minutes...

• 4 or 5 potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes


Add and saute 5 more minutes...

• the pre-cooked onions
• canned or diced fresh tomatoes, about 1 cup
• sprig of rosemary about two inches long, minced


Finish...

• salt and pepper to taste
• few pours olive oil

Serve with crusty whole grain buttered bread, fresh green beans, and lentil salad.

Potatoes with Rosemary photo, by L.L. Barkat.