“The banquet is in the first bite”
March 19, 2011 § Leave a comment
I’ve always loved beginnings. There’s so much optimism when you think you’ve come up with the perfect blog title or when you’ve written out your New Year’s resolutions in a blank journal. This time, I’ll stick with it. This time, it’s for forever.
I’ve been through so many blogs and left so many journals abandoned that there’s no reason I should think this endeavor should be any different. But I already have a certain feeling that this time, I’ve found a keeper.
Jasmine & Bergamot. I wanted a title that reflected different aspects of myself, and funnily enough, I found it the other day in my sources of morning caffeine. I had a container each of jasmine and earl grey loose-leaf tea, both running low. I liked the idea that, as a child of two cultures, Chinese and American, my taste subconsciously had an equal appreciation for flavors from both East and West. I had grown up drinking jasmine tea with my family, and I had recently discovered Earl Grey, known for its strong bergamot notes, during a trip to London.
There’s also something about these ingredients that call out to the romantic in me, evoking images of late nights walking in a perfumed garden or hot, sunny days lying in a citrus grove. Plus, after my first semester in law school, I’d realized that one of the greatest pleasures in life was just curling up on the couch during a snowstorm with a good book and a giant pot of tea with honey. A final little tidbit: my first blog had been titled Cocoa Mademoiselle, a riff on my favorite perfume from Chanel. And as it turns out, jasmine and bergamot are both scents used in the fragrance. So in a strange way, things have come full circle, and I look forward to all the new adventures and discoveries, culinary or otherwise, that life decides to throw at me.
Notes on Food 
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