One of my favorite movies is "The Mirror Has Two Faces" in which Barbara Streisand and Jeff Bridges play two brilliant Columbia professors who enter into an unusual marriage. Bridges, (Gregory) believes sexual attraction ruined his former relationships so finds doubty, plump, Streisand (Rose), a spinster whom he has no attraction to and settles down into a functional relationship. They marry and live in the perfect non-sexual union - until Rose announces she wants to consummate their relationship and blows everything up. It's smart, funny and as always happens with romance, involves a twist or two.
Barbara Streisand's character, Rose Morgan is in search of two things in life: a man whose kisses make her swoon to the point of hearing the philharmonic in her head and the perfect bite of food. As the movie develops and Gregory turns down her sexual advances, she transforms from the sloppy, loving, feminine mess of a character into a warrior who works out furiously, diets and ends up getting wooed by several men, even those who were previously unattainable. As Gregory returns from a long trip to discover Rose is a completely new woman,he longs for the sensual available woman she was by lamenting, "But I love the old Rose! The one with no makeup and baggy clothes who loves the perfect bite! She eats carrots now, isn't that tragic?" It becomes his job to attempt to win her back...
Ever since that film, I have been looking for, longing for, the perfect bite. I take elements of everything in a dish, trying to create the right proportions for that one, perfect, blissful mouthful. When I worked in restaurants I remember the day I discovered amuse bouche, a preemptive bite prior to a meal literally meant to "amuse the mouth". But amuse bouche at the beginning of a meal thus far hasn't come close to creating that most perfect bite I hope to attain. They are often clever concoctions, more clever than sublime to me. And though I still adore trying each amuse bouche I come upon, I still long for the best of the best, that one momentous bite.
This morning I attempted a Sunday,amuse bouche to start my day with an amused palate. I took some California green figs and washed them.
I cooked some Applewood bacon in the black iron skillet and while that was cooling on paper towels I took the black iron grill pan, brushed its ridges with olive oil and cranked it to high. I
sliced the green figs in half, and put them face down on the smoking, hot grill. The sizzle and char of the moist figs hitting the scalding grill pan was exotic. Instantly caramelized smells wafted throughout the kitchen. I pressed each fig lightly then when they started to get soft, turned them over.I then grabbed my wheel of Goat Brie Cheese from Trader Joe's,
cut slices and placed them on the figs, now grilling their outsides in the pan. As the brie melted and the fig skins got blackened marks, I took a moment to break the bacon into pieces. I removed the figs from the pan, arranged them on the plate, pressed a piece of salty bacon into each melted brie spot and took it to bed for a shared breakfast.
What we enjoyed did amuse, tickle and delight my taste buds. The creamy cheese, sweet, juicy fig and crispy salty bacon were a divine combination. The perfect bite? Well, I'm still searching for that but it was a good start.
Note:
*Cover the figs for the final grilling once the cheese is on so the the cheese melts fully, it's much more yummy that way.
*Use ripe, fully, soft figs. It's a little more messy but the flavor and texture is beyond luscious!
