Cobbling Together a Meal

San Geraldo couldn’t stand the fact that I had temporarily outshone him in the kitchen Saturday with my gourmet, original creation: “Nectarine Cut Up and Served in a Cereal Bowl.” So, he just had to get back in the kitchen himself and try and outdo me. Poor guy. The pressure must be awful sometimes. He managed to throw together a peach cobbler. Okay, it was peach cobbler and not fruit-in-a-bowl. And, okay, it was a really good peach cobbler. And I do admit it took a bit more time, skill, and care than did my “Nectarine Cut Up and Served in a Cereal Bowl.” One would think that would have been enough to put me back in my proper place toiling over a sink-full of dirty dishes. But One would be wrong. Oh, no, San Geraldo had to go on to make flamenquin for dinner. Show off! Isn’t it awful what I have to put up with?

FLAMENQUIN A LA SAN GERALDO.

PEACH COBBLER A LA SAN GERALDO.

But back to fruit — and when I say fruit I mean peaches and nectarines, not San Geraldo — we have fallen in love with a new (to us) melon. It’s called Galia Melon (or Melon Galia in Spanish, if you’d like to learn to speak like a native). Galia looks on the outside like a yellowish cantaloupe (which Jerry the South Dakotan, calls musk melon), on the inside more like a honeydew (which Jerry the South Dakotan didn’t hear of until he left South Dakota), but tastes like something a little different. I just looked it up and am so proud of my original description. It’s a hybrid melon that was developed in Israel around 1970 by a melon breeder named Zvi Karchi, it was named after Karchi’s daugher, Galia, and… it’s a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew! Ours was grown right here in Spain. Aromatic, sweet, and delicious. Oh, yeah, San Geraldo did a fine job preparing the melon, too. Game and Match: San Geraldo. I’ll get back to washing dishes… gladly.

GALIA MELON. CROSS BETWEEN A CANTALOUPE AND A HONEYDEW.

Author: Moving with Mitchell

From Brooklyn, New York; to North Massapequa; back to Brooklyn; Brockport, New York; back to Brooklyn... To Boston, Massachusetts, where I met Jerry... To Marina del Rey, California; Washington, DC; New Haven and Guilford, Connecticut; San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Santa Barbara, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Irvine, California; Sevilla, Spain. And Fuengirola, Málaga..

30 thoughts on “Cobbling Together a Meal”

  1. LOL! You are so funny! Speaking of fruit…..
    I was just looking at my favourite 'food blog' and he was talking about his fav melon. His name is David Lebovitz and is from NYC and now lives in Paris. I KNOW Gerry would like what David does with food and you would LOVE the results!!And of course clean up the mess afterwards!
    Seriously though, look up David Lebovitz….he is my 'food idol'!

  2. The cobbler looked delicious! I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that I'm not a fruity person…. raisins are okay… blueberries.. so/so….. melons… heck, I won't even allow Bill to eat one in the rig… he has to eat it outside. He'll be real happy to try all of that stuff if/when we make it to Spain… Me? I'll go to a bar and drink…. (or wash dishes for anyone who'll cook)

  3. Todd wants to know if we can call this a cantdew or a honeyloupe . But seriously, I'm glad that you and San Geraldo do not have to survive on your cooking, my old friend. I don't think that would be good.

    1. Carole:
      I have a preference for "cantdew"! Very clever. If we had to survive on my cooking, we would have three times the recycling each day (all those cardboard boxes and microwave plastic trays)!

  4. You are my hero! You actually cooked! I tried cutting grapefruit, but even with a grapefruit knife and dotted lines to follow (the cells), I still messed it up. You didn't have dotted lines and you probably didn't even use a nectarine knife! I noticed that San Geraldo didn't try to compete in your specialty: Nectarine Cut Up and Served in a Cereal Bowl. He knows when he's beat.

    1. Jo:
      Oh, grapefruits should only be cut by professionals… after years of study. Jerry used to be friendly with a big financial supporter of one of his universities. When they would go out for breakfast, she would pull her own sterling silver grapefruit knives out of her purse. So, if you're serious about this, those are a must-have.

  5. Cookin' you say? Cookin'? Devilish complicated process. Me damned dinin' table was broken for several days last week – sat down three evenins in a row and nothin' happened, not a morsel. Took forever to work out that the problem was in some far-flung dinin' table component called a "kitchin". Had to get some dirty great chaps in from the village to "break the strike" or somethin' and to "duff-up Cook". S'workin again now although we haven't tried it with the extra leaves folded out.

    Talkin' of re-duffin Cook I suppose it'll be Plum Duff season again soon, custard and such. Awfully fond of custard. I wonder if the dinin' table still has the recipe?

  6. Hello Mitch:
    Galia melon is totally delicious and especially so when eaten as, so to speak, home grown. Water melons are a huge thing here in Hungary, in season right now.

    Our advice is that if others are prepared to be in the kitchen, then stay well clear!

    1. Jane and Lance:
      I should one of these days take a picture of the kitchen AFTER one of San Geraldo's brilliant meals has been consumed. I serve a very important function: Disaster Relief.

    1. Ron:
      A cook-IN would be more fun. No need for competition or we'd then have to have a CLEAN-off and knowing what I know about San Geraldo, I think the odds would be stacked against me.

  7. The flamenquin looks wonderful and the peach cobbler divine! You are an excellent food photographer. As a long-time enthusiastic consumer of food, I can appreciate your skills!

    1. Thanks, Ms.Sparrow. You're very kind. I could do a lot better if I'd take the time. My camera has more capabilities than I take advantage of. For me, it's all about the story. As long as my photos don't make you look away, I figure I'm doing OK. The peach cobbler is divine. We've got the final two pieces to look forward to for dessert tonight (after our risotto!)…

    1. the cuby poet:
      I was trying to imagine the sound fruit makes in a cereal bowl… but then I got it! Anyway, what do you mean "easily" pleased? I cut that up by hand! Do you realize how much work that is for me?

  8. Next time surprise San Geraldo with Melon Galia, cut up in any bowl [cereal ones will do fine] and serve with slices of Serrano ham. It's a start[er]

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