Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Whitney Gaskell

Quote by Whitney Gaskell

Work

Table for Seven

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Whitney Gaskell
Whitney Gaskell

Whitney Gaskell is a contemporary author born in 1972. Her works span various literary genres, including novels, poetry, and prose. Gaskell is beloved by readers for her unique narrative style and profound insights into human nature. more

You May Also Like

“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.”

“Bubble tea isn't one thing but an umbrella term for a miscellany of Instagrammable drinks, many of which don't have tea, milk, or even tapioca pearls. They can be fruit-based, or blended milk with chestnut purée, or high-concept versions made from scratch with oolong and hand-rolled pearls. You choose a base tea, add-ins, sugar and ice levels, milk types and whether or not to get a top of sweet-salty cheese cream-- a thick, plush foam head, which gives black tea the visuals of a pint of Guinness. Depending on the drink, you can choose hot or cold. The permutations are seemingly endless-- even the most seasoned off-menu Starbucks drink aficionados can get overwhelmed by up to a thousand possible routes through the menu.”

“WEDDING MENU FOR PIP ARNET AND JACK ROGERS Canapés Pacific oysters Peking duck pancakes, hoisin sauce Smoked eel crostini with fig paste Crepes with sugar-cured salmon or ocean trout Provençal vegetable tartlet with parmesan Entrées Pan-roasted blue eye trevalla Scallops and saffron Chilled tomato soup Sidedishes Glazed seasonal greens Roasted potatoes, rosemary and sea salt Mains Crispy-skinned duck breast, spinach, potato puree, mushrooms, port jus Slow-cooked Ashfield House lamb shoulder with fennel, braised lentils, roasted garlic and rosemary jus Galantine of chicken and hazelnuts, cress salad, olives, radish, hazelnut vinaigrette Baked mushroom tortellini with Gruyère Dessert Wedding cake plated and served with fresh berry compote and cream So far, so standard. She hadn’t chosen a wedding cake yet— Jack was keen on chocolate mud. Everyone loved chocolate, he argued. She’d annotated the menu, noting changes to local seasonal fish, like line-caught couta or hapuka, and some herbs to dress it up like thyme, basil and fennel. She’d asked Dan to drop the scallops, Pacific oysters and salmon. Barbecued local clams and pipis would be nice for a starter. She could harvest a few buckets herself down near North West Bay. Were clams wedding-ish enough?”

“Dust sleeping on your bookshelf and all your plants are drying out you are too busy to save yourself is your mind heading for burnout? Coffee rings on your bedside table anxiety pills under your pillowcase working round the clock to foot the bill is there no time for breakfast these days? Friends haven't seen you in a while your phone is always out of reach you're slowly forgetting how to smile is your silence a figure of speech? Life can sometimes seem to be unfair but hoping is better than you think send the message in a bottle if you dare is it so hard to not force yourself to sink?”

“I glanced down at the menu, relieved that although I hadn't taken a French class since my sophomore year in college, I still recognized most of the words. Chartier's menu is full of classics: steaks and chops, grilled sea bass with fennel seed, sweet chestnut purée, and wine-soaked prunes. What girl could resist the charm of a restaurant that allows you to order a bowl of crème chantilly- simple whipped cream- for dessert?”

“To begin with, she would focus on tried-and-true dishes that she loved to make and which she knew would turn a profit. She had a petite filet mignon planned, which she would rotate with different sauces, but she would keep lobster and lump crabmeat confined to supporting roles with fresh pasta, in ravioli and in sauces, rather than serving up whole Maine lobsters at "market price." Her Chicken Cacciatore de Provence was an upscale twist on a farmhouse classic that paired her love of exotic mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh herbs with imminently affordable cuts of chicken. She wanted to serve a Spiral Stuffed Pork Loin in a savory reduction with yam patties and fresh garden peas, in season, which lent itself to a marvelous visual presentation and tasted like Thanksgiving dinner all on one plate.”

“As the milky early morning sun slips in through her kitchen windows, Cosima plucks the blossoms off her yellow squash and begins to make her way through today's menu: courgette blossom and artichoke pizza, wild mushroom and tomato bruschetta, lemon and pistachio cake, vanilla and orange oil cannoli, espresso and hazelnut tart... And into each bowl she sprinkles a generous pinch of paternal love, protection, and devotion.”