Just a month ago, I started some paperwhite narcissus bulbs in two shallow bowls.
Their perfume, which I find mysterious and slightly challenging, is, I believe, responsible for this morning's similarly challenging biscotti flavor: lavender flowers with lime.
For months I have been dreaming of a crisp, dry, not-too-sweet biscuit to have with tea. I imagined that cornmeal would be involved, and bought some to have on hand. An aromatic seed would infuse the morsel.
Eventually, I resolved to try the anise-almond biscotti recipe from Alice Waters' new Simple Food.
I have never been a huge fan of biscotti (the 1997 biscotti I remember from an early adolescent coffee house experience had a squiggle of icing piped on it, I recall...like mustard on a hot dog), but I have enjoyed those dry cellophane-wrapped Stella D'oro cookies from the supermarket. I suppose they remind me of my italian grandmother, whose heritage I did not recognize until years after her death.
This biscotti recipe does not call for cornmeal, or butter...simply eggs and flour and sugar, with almond, aromatic seeds of choice, and a citrus zest. In the first batch, I replaced the anise with fennel, and added currants. Marvelous!
The second batch was conceived of and carried out by sea-faring Benji, and was lightly flavored with coriander and clementine zest.
Today, the third batch: it was a toss-up between anise seed, which I have by now procured, and delicate lavender blossoms, which caught my eye in the bulk spices aisle. Are they truly edible?
The sight and smell of them transport me back to the markets of Aix-en-Provence, where I arrived two years ago next week.
The lime just happened to be the only citrus in the house with a good firm skin.
And so: when I mixed it up, the lavender blossoms remained lavender, and the lime zest was a nice green. By the time they are thrice-baked, these colors fade...but it is initially a striking combination.
