Chapter 35 A Piece Of News continued

How It Tasted

Fish a la Bettina

Hard to know whether to judge this on eye or tongue appeal…

As far as taste this dish was moderately successful. My husband thought it was a little bland and proceeded to doll it up with a fiery melange of spices, garlic, and Worcester sauce (more on this later)—my son and I thought it was fine as is.

But as for how it looked—yowzah! I tried my best to push all disagreeable images away, but there it was: Fish a la Bettina bears a striking resemblance to baby spitup, or the mess the dog left on the carpet the other day.

Rice Cakes

I was pleasantly surprised that all these cakes save one made it to the table intact—less pleased that my dining companions immediately broke them apart with their forks.

As for the taste, this dish simply was what it was: rice—the bread crumbs and fat really added nothing at all. I suppose this recipe might come in handy when one is trying to dress up leftovers, but since my son adores rice au natural all that shaping and frying is really wasted effort.

Stuffed Tomato Salad

Fully assembled this dish gave us all the weird sensation we were being watched.

Wonder why?

Rolls and Butter

Frankly these rolls (really bolillos) weren’t terribly exciting—too soft and bland was the general impression. Still, I really can’t say they were money wasted—hard to complain when this basic breadstuff cost less than a dollar.

Grape Juice

Milomir: Do we have any more?

I was pleased by this simple but colorful juice—my husband even more so when the fiery extras he dumped over his rice kicked in. The only problem was the cleanup afterward—somehow the pitcher leaked and left spots of juice on the tablecloth.

Blueberry Tarts

Filip: It looks like marbles.

Oddly enough the blueberries in these tarts were anything but soft—this, despite being stewed in a pot and then baked for a good twenty minutes.

Still, despite the berries’ marble-like qualities the tarts were really very good, and the crust pale but tender. I was astounded that, despite all my fumbling and patching, it really did almost meet the traditional “melt in your mouth” standard. I think we were all surprised by this—at first glance these tarts looked anything but appetizing.

Coffee

For once my husband and I didn’t fully appreciate our after dinner coffee—we were simply too full from the rice, the fish, and of course all that grape juice.

As expected the second beverage was superfluous—we generally welcome that jolt of caffeine after a stolid Bettina meal, but not this time.

Would I Make This Again?

Always the million dollar question, it seems…

For the most part I’d say yes—the rice cakes, juice, rolls, and tarts were pleasant and my crew seemed to enjoy them.

But the eyeball salad and the lumpy fish were truly abominations—visually, if not taste-wise. Might be wise to blindfold one’s guests before they tuck into these monstrosities—better still to tear the recipes out of the book, burn them, and scatter the ashes in the wind.