Eating Mulberries

One of my best summer memories is of eating mulberries. There was a mulberry tree in the yard one of the houses where lived when I was in grade school. I can't remember now who first told me what kind of tree it was or that the fruit was good to eat. Perhaps it is just one of those things that a child knows. In any case I remember that my brothers and I would climb up into the branches of the tree and plan adventures while we ate mulberries. Sometimes I climbed the tree alone. I always climbed as high as I could because the best and the sweetest fruit is always at the top of the tree. Then I sat on the branch I had chosen while leaning back against the trunk of the tree. I remember the fresh, sweet, and tart flavor of the fruit as it burst in my mouth and the sway of the branches as the tree moved in the breeze. I was mesmerized by the sound of the wind and the play of the light and green shadows dancing against my skin. When I came down my hands and face were always stained with the black juice of the berry. At the end of the day my brothers and I jumped down from the tree when we saw our father's car turn into the driveway. The first thing he said when he saw us was "I told you not to eat those berries, you'll get worms! Mulberries are for birds, not people." I guess we never really believed him because we kept eating the berries.

There is a mulberry tree growing outside my apartment. The pavement of the parking lot is covered with the pulp of smashed berries. It is a different variety than the one from my childhood and at first that kept me from identifying it correctly. The fruit is a greenish white in color indicating that it is an Asian mulberry instead of a black mulberry but the fruit is just as sweet as I remember. The branches are too high for me to reach easily and too thin to support my adult weight. I can only reach the berries hanging from the lowest boughs. I horrified my neighbors today by carrying my step ladder out so that I could reach more berries. They warned me that I would get worms if I ate those berries and they are now convinced that I am crazy. It was worth it though; they were delicious!

RW

Have Your Duck and Eat it Too

Yesterday at work management appreciated the dietary department by taking them out to eat at Zea's. Happily for me, I was also invited since I am the bus driver. We were permitted to order whatever we wanted. As a general rule, I am an adventurous eater unless I am being particularly diet or budget conscious at the moment. Yesterday I considered a grilled chicken salad (diet conscious), the Thai ribs (they are delicious and I have had them before), and finally the Twice cooked duck (which I have never had.) As a matter of fact, I had never eaten duck before so the choice was obvious. I needed to try the duck. The atmosphere of the restaurant is pleasant and the company was boisterous. When I wasn't listening to my lunch companions, I was listening to the table next to us. They were a family of undertakers discussing business and a recent family reunion. Apparently one of the family had passed and they had some pretty definite opinions concerning Uncle Joe's final remains. I found the mixture of shop and family talk quite funny.

In the course of time, the duck arrived. It was crispy and juicy. The was a lightly sweet and fiery hot sauce served with it that really enhanced the flavor of the duck. It was not at all oily, gamy or greasy as I had been led to believe that duck would be. As a matter of fact, the pesto chicken with penne pasta that I would have been eating at work that day was much more oily. Today I reheated the other half of the duck for lunch and it was a bit dry but still delicious.

When I returned to work, my boss asked me to come to her office. After she had covered what she wanted to talk to me about, she asked me what I had ordered. I was unprepared for the level of horror she expressed when I told her. "You order DUCK? And you ATE it. Wasn't it HORRIBLE and GAMY? How COULD you?" This is the woman who goes to the wild game dinner at her church every year. I wonder what she eats. When I asked her what was served last year, she told me that they had had bear, goat, buffalo and nutria (I personally thought that eating nutria was pretty disgusting.) So I said that it hadn't been gamy but that gamy wasn't always a bad thing. I had tried deer, rattlesnake, rabbit, and armadillo before and enjoyed them(not as a constant diet mind.) My poor boss just about fainted. "ARMADILLO! You at armadillo? Oh, Oh. That is just disgusting! How did they get the shell off? Uhh! I have lost my appetite for the rest of the day. You can go now." I don't think that she is going to ask what I had for lunch anymore.

RW