Friday, June 20, 2008
wall lettuce, lamp post, mayonaise
This is wall lettuce, Mycelis muralis. It is not much noticed because it grow in cracks and corners of walls and other unloved places, but deserves more attention. I like it for it little yellow flowers and elegant stems which are often of a purple hue. Its deeply lobed leaves may, apparently, be eaten as salad.
Glimpsed from the train, a lamp post, round which wild clematis clambers, and to judge by the protruding tendrils, embraces energetically.
I have taken to making mayonnaise again. I used to think it a delicate operation (in fact, the fear of the liaison separating, when oil joins the egg-yoke base, far exceeds the likelihood of it happening. Beating egg yoke into vinegar, lemon juice and other flavourings takes barely a couple of minutes and whipping in a steady stream of oil, only a little longer. I used to use a food mixer but the old fashioned hand-held, bulb-shaped, wire beater is easier. And the smooth, creamy, savoury sauce, which results is a beautiful thing. Making it is one of those little creative acts, which round off a day.
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