Pastel de Tres Leches y Chocolate
So what do cooks do when someone they work with at a restaurant is leaving?
Cook. Or bake. Or both.
A Ritual of Tea
It all started when I was very small.
“What’s this, Mom?” I asked one day.
“Oh,
that was a wedding gift from your dad’s and my Tae Kwon Do instructor,
Mr. Han. He and his wife gave that to me and your dad many years ago,
and I kept it when we divorced.”
From that day forward, I was
transfixed. What had caught my attention, in this case, was a
beautiful jade green and gold tea set. It was small, round, and the
pot itself was a marbleized jade with gold accents, and a gold filigree
dragon on one side. The matching teacups were simple cylinders in
shape, made of a double layer of ceramic folded over itself and baked
so that there was a space in between the layers. The top layer had a
heart cut out of one side of each teacup, and the dark space in between
set each heart off so that it couldn’t be missed. It was simple, it
was elegant, and it was bold. At the time, I’d never seen a cup or mug
for a hot beverage that didn’t have a handle. These teacups begged to
be nestled in the drinker’s hands, emphasizing the communal experience
of a special cup of tea with friends or family.
Janaki
