« so it turns out | Main | French food and conversation, turkeys and giants! »
August 15, 2004
RIP Czeslaw Milosz, Julia Child
On Saturday, one of the world's greatest contemporary poets, Czeslaw Milosz, passed away.
THE THISTLE, THE NETTLE
Let the sad terrestrials remember me,
recognize me and salute: the thistle and the tall nettle,
and the childhood enemy, belladonna.
-O. V. DE L. MILOSZ, "Les Terrains Vagues"
The thistle, the nettle, the burdock, and belladonna
Have a future. Theirs are wastelands
And rusty railroad tracks, the sky, silence.
Who shall I be for men many generations later?
When, after the clamor of tongues, the award goes to silence?
I was to be redeemed by the gift of arranging words
But must be prepared for an earth without grammar,
For the thistle, the nettle, the burdock, and the belladonna,
And a small wind above them, a sleepy cloud, silence.
--Czeslaw Milosz, trans. Hass & Milosz.
His poetry is wonderfully accessible, and his words have directly touched and influenced my life. I am greatly saddened by the loss of this great poet.
And Julia Child, the most celebrated chef of our times...possibly ever, passed away on Friday. She lived for much of her life in Cambridge, and when she moved from there, her kitchen was donated to the Smithsonian. Few know that she was a spy in World War II.
Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse
Serves 8
8 oz. Sweet or semi sweet baking chocolate -- melted with:
1/4 c. Strong coffee
6 tbsp Unsalted butter
3 Egg yolks
1 c. Heavy cream (make sure it's the heavy variety)
3 Egg whites
1/4 c. Instant (finely ground) sugar
-----OPTIONAL----
Whipped cream
Beat the soft butter into the smoothly melted chocolate. One by one, beat in
the egg yolks. Beat the cream over ice until it leaves light traces on the
surface. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. While beating,
sprinkle in the sugar by spoonfuls and continue beating until stiff shining peaks are formed. Scrape the chocolate mixture down the side of the egg-white bowl, and delicately fold in the whipped cream. Turn the mousse into attractive serving bowls. Cover and chill several hours.
You may wish to decorate the mousse with swirls of whipped cream, or to pass
whipped cream separately.
Julia Child - The way to cook. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright 1989 by Julia Child. Isbn 0-394-53264-3.
Rest in Peace, Czeslaw and Julia. Our world is much brighter because of you.
Posted by crystallyn at August 15, 2004 11:20 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.crystallyn.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/294
Comments
In 1953, Milosz's The Captive Mind shook up Western intellectuals captivated by Marxism. He was the Eastern Orwell. (Altho a friend took his class at Berkeley, looking fwd to wisdom by osmosis, & fell asleep in every single lecture. Apparently he needed to work on his delivery.)
Posted by: jeff at August 20, 2004 10:57 PM