it's true that we venture
to the organic food markets each sunday,
buying our weekly supplies
from gorgeous rosy-cheeked folk
so forget fluorescent lights
and cold metal trollies
no!
the sunday market.
she smiles.
where earthy types emerge
in bright threads
with their pups and weekend eyes
where you can talk to the very man
who grew that pumpkin
and the sweet lady
with grey hair proud
who gathered your eggs
from a warm nest of hay
the morning just gone
each week brings something new
and
this week
it was mushrooms
...
fairy ring mushrooms
that journeyed from france
...
while nature
has graciously allowed
science to come up with a reason
for mushrooms
spontaneously bursting into being
in a perfect ring
it's so much more fun
to read about the thousand
year old folklore
which humbly tells that these circles
are created by the dance of fairies
the mushrooms mark
the edge of their dance
these glorious little fellows
trundled from france
packaged in a wooden crate
to our sunday morning
and
a small bundle
decided to come home with me
chef of the universe advised:
'fill a bowl with
fresh water.
let them soak
for a minute or two
then scoop them gently
from the bowl
replace the water
and start again
do this three times
no more
no less'
'remove the ends
and after that
they need so little'
he said
'sweat them in a pan
with butter
salt
and pepper
and enjoy them in
their nutty, rich simplicity'
and i'm not sure
if it was the folklore
or the knowing
that they came from france
but these mushrooms
were heavenly
so if you even find yourself
in a market place
rich with earthy types
and there is a wooden crate
laden with mushrooms
fresh from a fairy ring in france
then let a handful
steal themselves into your basket
and home
sadie
ox
