Last supper

There's this new book I heard about on Zagat.com. Released on Tuesday, it's by photographer Melanie Dunea and it's called My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals. Why didn't I think of that? A cheap way to call up all those heroes and villains of the culinary world and weasel my way into their kitchens, maybe even their homes. We'd sit down, I'd ask some questions and they'd be charmed by my devilish wit, and as they formulated their dream last meal on earth, they'd decide to cook it up for me, right there on the spot....

Sorry for that brief reverie. Got a little lost in it. Anyway, it's got me thinking about what my own last supper would be.

I guess health concerns aren't an issue (who cares about saturated fat if you have six hours to live?), so I could have a big pile of saturated fat. But I'd need something spicy. And also something nurturing, like miso soup or chocolate bread pudding. Should it be ethnically coherent? Alright, here goes, my last meal:

Start with pan-seared foie gras on some little toasted brioche thing, topped with a sour cherry compote (maybe with a glass of Talley Vineyards Arroyo Grande Valley pinot noir).

Then tempura green beans with a spicy ponzu dipping sauce. No, that's stupid. How about a next course that pairs fried tofu with a really spicy peanut sauce and a pile of that Japanese sesame seed spinach (goma ae?). Add some noodles--those really wide chow fun noodles pan-fried so they get a little browned, with cabbage and snow peas and bean sprouts. No booze with this course, unless there's a little riesling laying around. Maybe a JJ Prum spatlese.

That's still just my second course. For entree, hmm. I'd need a stunning potato gratin, and maybe something classic and retro like a filet with a bordelaise sauce. And long, crisp stalks of asparagus that's been peeled at the bottom part. Hollandaise would be too much, right? Verging on gross? I want it anyway. I don't really feel like a cab or something and it's my party. A glass of big, fat California chardonnay. I don't care if it makes me a plebe.

For dessert, how about one of those individual chocolate cakes that ooze when you cut into the middle. With a big poof of unsweetened whipped cream. And a butt-kicking cup of coffee.

Alright, I'll go quietly.

Comments

[Luby]

Louisiana Style BBQ Shrimp appetizer with french bread, blue cheese and candied walnut topped sald with balsamic dressing, home made beef stroganoff and carrot cake with cream cheese icing for dessert.

[The Mouth]

Luby, is this all one meal? Wow. That carrot cake is a pretty good idea. Now I've got a hankering.