Garam Masala

 

A new story of mine, "Garam Masala," has been published by The First Line (Volume 28, Issue 2).

 

I tried at least four other versions of this story, given the opening line as a challenge, and gave up on all of them—for no particular reason.  Finally I started once again, simply instead of adding lots of plot contortions, and added in what was fresh in my mind—Van Gogh's paintings of wheatfields which we'd seen a lot of recently during the production of Vincent by our favorite company, downtown.  Finally the story moved compellingly along, without going off on impossible tangents.  It had its own quiet direction, and a heart.  My happening upon the wonderful cookbook, 660 Curries, added the final ingredients needed (in this case coriander and cumin and my mother's favorite cardamom).

 

"She liked that it would last her a very long time, all of the years she could picture ahead.  She liked that the colors of the dishes she prepared and the spices she learned to grind were rather like Vincent Van Gogh's.  A lot of yellows and oranges.  The flavors varied, as the paintings did in mood, while following a common and familiar thread."

 

"Late in the afternoon, sun on the patterned tiles of the worn kitchen floor, Alex made Lamb with Yellow Split Peas, Salmon with Garlic and Turmeric.  Cardamom-scented Chicken.  Green Pea Croquettes.  She tried both Chunky Potatoes with Spinach and Chunky Potatoes with Golden Raisins. Blended twenty spices—all of the fragrant seeds like pigments, crushed and ground, used to create something other.  Something with ingrained radiance."

 

I must spend some of my own summer cooking, as well as looking at art . . . 

 

 

image:  Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Field Behind Saint-Paul Hospital with a Reaper, Google Art & Culture