Quotessence
Home / Authors / Emily Arden Wells Biography

Emily Arden Wells Biography

Author

Related Quotes

“Cassie speared one of the fried balls and placed it on her plate, along with a scoop of the dark brown paste. They looked simple enough, like any bar food. When she cut it open, though, it erupted with steam, gooey Gruyère cheese, and shredded duck meat. She cut it into quarters, rationed out the fig butter for each piece, and took a bite. Salty and crunchy, the meat sweet and savory--- and Ben was right. That fig butter--- the creative addition of fat and sweet jammy fruit, punctuated with large crystals of crunchy sea salt--- made the dish sing. "It's the holy trinity of sugar, fat, and salt," Ben said, and took a drink of champagne. The pizza arrived just as the group polished off the last croquette, filling the air with wafts of nutty truffles. "Some say that truffles taste like the forest floor, but some say they taste like the human body," said Kelly, as she stabbed an egg yolk, releasing a thick yellow goo all over the pizza. She pulled a piece onto her plate. "Oh yeah, I wrote a story on this," said Ben. "Feet, body odor... sex. Truffles have a particular form of stink that attracts people in an animalistic way--- it's what explains why people will pay so much money for even the slightest hint of truffle." Cassie pulled a slice of truffle from the pie and put it on her tongue. Certainly nutty, cool, crunchy... but sex? She didn't get it. She shrugged and took another bite.”

PizzaDuckFlavorsButterAphrodisiacTrufflesFigCroquettes
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“Waiters carried trays of Campari spritz cocktails that looked like glowing red orbs, served with slices of fresh orange, and guests nibbled on canapés as they visited the different tables covered in decadent displays: seafood towers filled with shrimp, snow crab, oysters, clams, and freshly boiled langoustine tails, six large copper pots filled with different kinds of risotto simmering at a low temperature, intricate, multicolored stained-glass raviolis stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and a bread display that looked like an abstract sculpture.”

VeniceCocktailsSeafoodItalian FoodSamplingRisottoRavioli
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“We tasted the Vegetable menu, an exploration through the garden with awe-inspiring presentations of ingredients we so often take for granted. Take, for example, the potato, usually served baked, fried, boiled, steamed. Here they return the potato to its humble beginning, the ground, but in the world of Noma, it arrives in the form of potato soup served in a terracotta pot, topped with a garden of herbs. While potatoes are often a favorite staple of a meal, it was refreshing to be surprised by this dish. It was a hint of what else was to come. Other dishes are crafted from ingredients that are transformed through experimental cooking techniques; onions that are cooked until they resembled lumps of charcoal, with sweet, almost gooey centers, fermented ants that taste of pickled ginger and lemongrass, or plums, dried and fermented until they could easily be confused with cured meat.”

MenuFermentationCopenhagenVegetablePlant Based FoodsRestaurant Review
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“Next, a quail egg, topped with a dried plum and rose hip "chorizo" that was spicy, salty, and had the same umami qualities of a meat-based sausage. This dish made Cassie sit back in her chair, chewing longer than she should have, savoring every moment of its presence in her mouth. "How do they do that?" asked Cassie blankly. "What?" asked Ben. "Make fruit taste like meat." "Fermentation.”

VeganSavoryFermentationCopenhagenPlant Based FoodsChorizo
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“Then they were served a small beeswax cup filled with flowers and crunchy bee pollen, followed by a presentation of a large shawarma, or at least what looked like a shawarma, adorned with roasted onions and rosemary, cut tableside. Pia explained that it was not made from lamb or chicken, as is traditional, but instead from celery root and truffles, before it was cooked on a spit for hours. One of the chefs used a large knife to slice off thin pieces of the "meat," plating it with greens, roasted apple, and red currants, before smothering the plate in a brown "jus." Cassie cut off a small bite and was surprised by how much it tasted like meat. It was earthy, salty, sweet, rich, and incredibly delicious. "Well, this is way better than the shawarma cart in my neighborhood," said Rebecca, practically licking her plate. "No kidding," agreed Ben, soaking up the jus with a fat slice of sourdough bread.”

SavoryFermentationCopenhagenHerbalUmamiFloralPlant Based FoodsShawarma
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“Cassie perused the offerings, her mouth watering with excitement. Lemon cream, raspberry ricotta and meringue, Parmesan, creamed corn, cassis, persimmon, summer fig, bergamot, tiramisu, creamed coffee, watermelon cream... the list went on and on. "Oh my god, how do you even decide?" Her head was spinning. "Well, I like to do a combination. One fruit, one nut, one cream--- or chocolate, depending on my mood. So tonight I'm going to have wild strawberry, pistachio, and salted caramel. Pistachio is my constant. I always order it. It's my litmus test to judge the gelateria." "Excellent strategy." She nodded and perused the case while Eamon ordered. She decided on Parmesan, fig, and blue honey with walnuts. "I'm going for the cheese plate combo," she joked.”

ItalianIce CreamFlavorsNumerousFlavor CombosGelatoWhen In Rome
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“Oh! There's a straw!" she exclaimed excitedly, pushing her face toward the straw and straight into the bush of blooming oregano, inhaling its fresh aroma as she sucked up a creamy warm liquid. It was a soup, but it took her a few minutes to figure out exactly what kind of soup--- it was sweet and buttery and soft. And then she placed it. "Potato!" she cried, her eyes darting across the table to Eamon. Eamon's eyes sparkled in return, and he submerged his face into the tiny herb garden. "Point proven, once again," he added, after coming up for air. She tried to sip it slowly, savoring the sweet flavor and velvety texture, but it was too delicious.”

VeganSoupFermentationCopenhagenHerbalInside JokePotato
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“The next dish arrived, a small bowl of morels cooked in brown butter served with maitake mushroom broth, complex and unctuous. The morels were harvested the year before, pickled and preserved, and served with a hand-carved appetizer fork. The concentration of flavor brought images of the woods to her mind, from the mossy forest floor to the tree canopy high above. This dish was followed by marigold flowers fried in an incredibly light tempura and then salted, served with an egg yolk dipping sauce. Then walnut "tofu," surrounded by grilled rose petals, topped with a sunflower seed mole, herbs, and tiny flowers, and a caramelized milk tart stuffed with cheese and thinly sliced black truffles, the flavor nutty and savory. "That's better than sex," Cassie overheard Eamon say from across the table, eyes closed and head back in rapture.”

MushroomsAphrodisiacTrufflesFermentationCopenhagenPlant Based FoodsMorel
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“I'll get the oysters. You get the sturgeon to start, and then one of us should order the ricotta gnudi and the other, the roast chicken. And we must order the chocolate tart with cardamom." "Fire away," confirmed Ruby, smiling with pride. Each dish was more beautiful than the last. The oysters arrived on the half shell and served with vibrant, almost sour kumquat mignonette, the combination of which was bright and briny and almost candy-like. Click. The sturgeon was smoked and came on a bed of gem lettuce covered in a thin layer of creamy sliced avocado, which balanced the flavors of the smoky fish. Click. The ricotta gnudi were pillows of ricotta covered in flour, boiled and served over baked summer squash and drizzled with a miso sauce. Click. The roasted half chicken came spatchcocked alongside blackened peppers and hen of the woods mushrooms that were lightly baked until soft. Click. They finished the meal with the chocolate tart, creamy and decadent, with the unexpected spice of green cardamom. Click.”

ChocolateSeafoodSeasoningsChickenSelfiesItalian CuisineSaucesTartRicotta
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“The first round of dessert was a glass-like tortellini filled with rose hip fudge, flower petals, and wood sorrel. The inside was sweet, jammy, and tasted of cooked plum. And then the final dish: a small potted purple oxalis plant surrounded by fresh herbs, which gave Cassie a feeling of déjà vu. "And we've come full circle," said Kelly, picking up the hand-forged garden trowel that came with the plate. She cut the dish in half, revealing a layered cake of rose-scented ice cream in a chocolate pot topped with edible chocolate dirt.”

ChocolateCakeDirtIce CreamDessertFudgeFermentationFloralPlant Based
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“A new sake was served, this one white and creamy--- an unfiltered nigori sake that tasted of jasmine, orange blossom, and vanilla. King salmon with smoked soy sauce was followed by a bite of sea bass topped with a dollop of lime foam and sea salt. Fatty tuna was followed by an even fattier tuna, each delightfully buoyant and yet like velvet on her tongue. And then a mysterious dark yellow paste arrived, wrapped in a column of seaweed. "Uni!" gasped Ruby. "What in the world is uni?" "Sea urchin--- it's a delicacy." Ruby swiftly ate the bite and moaned shamelessly, her eyes closed. Cassie hesitantly popped the food into her mouth--- it was strangely creamy and coated her tongue with the tropical flavor of mango, in stark contrast to the crunchy, salty seaweed. It was, without a doubt, simply delightful.”

SakeSeafoodSushiJapanese CuisineRice Wine
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“A waiter came by with prepared bites of Cappelli spaghetti cooked with butter and fresh lemon and topped with a spoon of Italian caviar and parsley. Cassie felt the little hairs on her arms stand up with delight, and her whole body reveled in the flawless combination of flavors. She looked over to Eamon, who was also clearly enjoying the dish. "Let the caviar be the hero," said Cassie, before flashing Eamon a big smile.”

SpaghettiCaviarItalian Cuisine
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image

“The next dish was a plate of three gently cooked quail eggs served in a buttery crust filled with an equally buttery leek cream, and topped with a generous spoonful of jet-black caviar. Cassie broke open the runny yolk of an egg with the tip of her fork, videoing as it oozed into the caviar and covered the tart. "Now that's what I call food porn," she said, before taking a bite.”

EggsCaviarQuailFood PornSpanish Cuisine
Book:Eat Post Like
Create image