Existing in the middle is best.

food and cooking, poetry

THURSDAY

Because the most difficult part about making something, also the best,
Is existing in the middle,
Sustaining an act of radical imagination,
I simmered a broth: onion, lemon, a big handful of mint.

The phone rang. So with my left
Hand I answered it,
Sautéing the rice, then adding the broth
Slowly, one ladle at a time, with my right. What’s up?

The miracle of risotto, it’s easy to miss, is the moment when the husks dissolve,
Each grain of rice releasing its tiny explosion of starch.

If you take it off the heat just then, let it sit
While you shave the parmesan into paper-thin curls,
It will be perfectly creamy,
But will still have a bite.

There will be dishes to do,
The moon will rise,
And everyone you love will be safe.

-James Longenbach

 

 

6 thoughts on “Existing in the middle is best.”

  3. I can’t remember reading a poem and writing down its recipe before now. But as someone so easily distracted while cooking, risotto is a dish I’ve never ever made. Not that I don’t love it, love any porridgey type soup like congee, so maybe I’ll try it sometime and there’s another bumper crop of mint in the front yard. “And everyone you love will be safe” because isn’t that what cooking risotto should make you feel?

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