The Long Shortlist

As an INTJ, I love lists. My days are lists. My speech is involuntarily devised in the form of lists. Heck, I have lists reminding me to make lists. But the authoritative simplicity lists so boast can be just as quickly gnarled into oversimplicity, thereby discrediting them of any viability and reason, rendering them no… Continue reading The Long Shortlist

A fable for fall

Once upon a fall, a crow perched itself on the shoulder of a ginkgo tree. Its crown thinned as one by one its golden leaves fluttered free from their branch. Some found rest in the freshly frostbitten grasses below, others followed the wind to where even the crow could not see. "Foolish! Foolish! How utterly… Continue reading A fable for fall

24 Carrot Gold

For some, music is the magic key to accessing a particular past experience, a buried memory. For others, it's perhaps a chanced blend of particles in the air whiffed up through the nostrils that triggers waves of nostalgia to come lapping lazily the back of the mind. For me, it's food. Don't ask me if… Continue reading 24 Carrot Gold

Seaspiracy – a broad stroke

Last night I watched Seaspiracy, a Netflix documentary I was a few months late to jump on, as I munched on dinner - a plate of stir fried Manila clams, dressed nostalgically in the green, red, and white of Thai basil, fresh chilies, and Ontario summer garlic. Before aggressively thumbing the "OK" on my remote,… Continue reading Seaspiracy – a broad stroke

Fusion and Authenticity

Before I begin, please thank @nim_ds. She's the reason you all have access to this recipe, because she DM'd me and requested it. So just another reminder (shameless plug??), the recipes that make it onto Coco et Cocoa are a subset of the dishes I share on Instagram, and since neither IG nor C&C are… Continue reading Fusion and Authenticity

The irony of eel and cabbage

Sakura Ebi Okonomiyaki with Unagi and Truffle Aioli

At that age, I couldn't fully grasp the realities that strapped my mother. Parents shield their children from so much, don't they? But with what limited understanding I could wring from my observations, even this was obvious: in the months where the days were short and when the air breathed ice onto lawns, she had… Continue reading The irony of eel and cabbage