My Mother The Dowager Duchess is on a first-name basis with all the famous chefs of the world.
The Frugal Gourmet (Jeff Snodsmith), she called Frugal — until the jerk was arrested for being a pedophile. Then she stopped calling him at all.
Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet, was Galloping.
Julia Child was, of course, Julia.
Giada De Laurentis? Giada.
Emeril Lagasse? Emeril. (But then, everyone calls him Emeril.)
Oddly, Rachael Ray is Rachael Ray. And the host of “Yan Can Cook,” Martin Yan, was always Yan-Can-Cook.
The Dowager Duchess does, however, remain on a first-name basis with the best chef of our own little world, San Geraldo. She calls him Jerry. I call him “the best thing that ever happened to me” and not just because he bakes Moorish Chicken and Nut Pie.
His recipe is from “The New Spanish Table” (click here if you actually read recipes).
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| FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN. |
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| READY TO SERVE. |
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| SUNDAY DINNER. |
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| MONDAY LUNCH. |
Although San Geraldo and I have always been on a first-name basis, he has a special fondness for endearments. I will only share one with you here. He often calls me “honey.” When I wasn’t feeling well and he was heading to the supermarket, I heard him call out, “Do you need any, honey?”
Any what, I wondered.
“Do I need any what?” I called back.
He laughed and said, “No. Do you need honey? For your tea.”
I had over-punctuated.
Just so you know, the main lyrics of the below song are,
“Get my honey come back, sometimes.”
So, this makes perfect sense.