Georgian Pork Stew (Page 485)

• Date: Saturday, January 27, 2007 -- 8:30pm
• Location: Somerville, MA
• Kitchen: My Apartment
• Fellow Chef: Alex
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: A

I have been doing a lot of spice shopping lately, so I chose this recipe to make a couple weekends ago because it used an assortment of my new spices (e.g. fenugreek seeds). This pork stew was delicious! My only regret is that the recipe didn't make more, because it was gone by the end of the weekend, and I could have eaten it all week! The pork came out magnificently tender. Matt commented that it was the best pork he's had from The Book yet, and I think indeed that it was the best pork I have had also. I was unfamiliar with the method of first steaming the chunks of pork before browning them and braising them, but it really worked! The spicing of the dish was also extremely good. The stew had a lot of flavor, and it was unlike any other dish I have had. Overall, I highly recommend this recipe -- it took a little time, but it was definitely worth it!

In college, everything bad that happened to me and Emilee happened during winter quarter. Bad break-ups, the spinal leak, unpleasant classes, the horrible medical school admissions process, studying for the MCAT -- it was all in the winter. After a couple years of this we started to see the pattern. By our senior year, we found ourselves just wishing that we would make it through the winter, and emerge in the spring both healthy, and reasonably happy.

It does seem that winter is often harder than other parts of the year. Before I lived in California I attributed this mainly to the weather. It's easier to fall prey to a bad mood when it is 5 degrees outside than when it is sunny and 75. But at Stanford the winter weather isn't bad at all. I would often wear flip-flops in January. There was no explanation. Winter quarter was simply cursed.

This past week, I couldn't help but think about the winter quarter curse. I talked to Emilee on Saturday, frustrated and upset. I didn't mention the curse, but she had the same thought. She reminded me though that we always pulled through the winter in the past. Certainly this one will be no different.