How It Tasted
Molded
Cereal Over Bananas
Filip:
What is it?
I can’t say this congealed blob of cereal went over
well with the family…it definitely raised some eyebrows. It certainly looked
odd, and even heaped with whipped cream wasn’t exactly a taste sensation.
Adding some sugar might have made a difference--perhaps turned a lump of tasteless, sticky farina into a dessert of sorts.
Whipped
Cream
Even unsweetened, this “dish” was one of the most
popular items on the menu. We all spooned it liberally over our cereal (not
that it helped in any way), and my husband and I also added it to our coffee.
What surprised me most was the cream’s staying
power. I refrigerated what we didn’t eat, and even ten hours later the stuff hadn’t melted down into a puddle—quite remarkable as it had no sugar, unflavored gelatin, or other stabilizers added to it.
Codfish
Balls
Happily the intensive soaking I did removed the cod’s regrettably rank odor. Unfortunately it also removed the taste—these patties, while pretty to look at, really didn’t have much flavor.
The texture too was a little peculiar—smooth, almost
creamy, and not something one would expect to find in a dish made with fish. We
all added a lot of lemon juice and spices to them, and that definitely made
them more enjoyable.
Egg
Soufflé
Yes another flaccid dish with zero taste (and the pea sauce didn't help a bit). To their
credit these mini soufflés did manage to hold their shape coming out of
the oven, and I suppose they meet Bettina’s definition of “dainty”. But they had
almost egg flavor and had the consistency of marshmallow fluff—in fact, I could
have topped ice cream sundaes with them and no one would have blinked.
Twin
Mountain Muffins
Finally a dish that offered some tooth resistance
(maybe a little too much—I suspect I left the muffins in the oven a tad too
long). Still, they went over well, and we all ate them with jelly. The texture
was fine (no tunnels)—much to my surprise that business with the eggs didn’t affect it at all.
Jelly
Is there really much that can be said about commercial
jelly? As noted above we used this on our muffins—the jelly’s bright color made
them far more appealing, almost like a dessert in fact.
Spice
Cookies
Milomir:
Sure you didn’t overbake these?
Once again another cookie failure. These weren’t quite
as awful the doggy-style biscuits from Chapter 27 (Bettina Has A Baking Day),
but it was close.
To be fair, the cookies did have a spicy snap to them,
and the smell brought up pleasant images of Christmas. But their texture was really
strange: hard to the touch, but both oily and flaky on the inside (if such a
thing is possible).
Coffee
The grand climax of the meal and probably the only
item that wasn’t something of a disappointment. Of course I used my beloved
percolator to make this and, like always, it was excellent.
Would I Make This Again?
Hmm... DH and Son would answer that question with a resounding
“No!”, but I’m not sure myself how good (or bad) the meal really was.
I think on one hand none of the dishes lived up to the Bettina-inspired hype...on the other hand, we all were able to eat enough to satisfy our appetites...but then (hey! that’s three hands!) this meal was too
labor intensive for such *ho hum* results.
I think the real problem was the meal’s utter
blandness. The cereal was smooth and tasteless, the whipped cream creamy
(obviously) and lacking in flavor, the fish balls ditto, and so on and so on.
In truth this is a meal suitable for invalids, or
anyone who has to suck their food in through a straw. I have no reason to believe
that Bob’s Aunt Elizabeth was anything but “beautiful and
distinguished-looking” but, judging by the meal set before her, she obviously
had medical issues—either a stomach cratered with ulcers or some ill-fitting dentures.
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