Across the Pond

What do we know about simplicity? Figs from our tree. Figs. The taste of summer, the taste of home; my immigrant home. Our backyard tree is heavy with fruit. In the mornings I go out to pick what is ripe; figs for breakfast, a treat straight from the tree; flesh and seeds, refreshing and sweet, grainy resistance and softness at the same time. Figs, the color of their skin, purple with blotches of green or white stripes where they have cracked. The reds and browns inside bring up memories: a summer spent in Normandy, France, with my parents, my brother, and my maternal grandmother. Life was about food in its basic, original form, about mussels and figs and cheese; it was about the ocean and its tides, gigantic but predictable, and about history. We visited Bayeux to see  the tapestry which tells the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings;  we spent a day or a half at  Arromanches,  saw a documentary on D-Day and the landing ...

Purple canopy: Jacarandas on Del Mar Blvd. in Pasadena Trees. Again.  May in L.A. was cooler than usual and June is no different. Anything that flowers is doing so long and abundantly this year, including the Jacaranda trees with their purple canopies. Jacarandas have become popular in the California Southland but they originally came from Central and South America and from the West Indies. The Wikipedia entry on Jacarandas mentions (but does not cite) a legend from Pretoria, South Africa, which is known as Jacaranda City: the time of year the tree blooms coincides with the year-end exams at the University of Pretoria. Should a flower from the Jacaranda tree drop on your head, you will pass all your exams. Nice. If your headed for a test: go find a Jacaranda!

"Local nuts and fruit." Gelato Bar in Los Feliz Every few weeks life - or rather the pain in my neck and the chiropractor who is trying to fix it - takes me to Los Feliz, a charming neighborhood on the southern flank of Griffith Park. Los Feliz has become trendy over the last couple of years. Different from so many other more corporate places in L.A. it has that small-town, artsy feel that comes with independently owned coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. One of my favorite hang-outs is the  Gelato Bar  on Hillhurst Avenue which not only offers delicious gelato  but also sells Almdudler,  an herb flavored soda and my favorite drink from Austria. (Long time readers of Across the Pond might remember that Almdudler is one of the things I carry in my suit case when I come back to L.A. from Europe.) The story of how the gelato came to the bar is posted online. Gail Silverton, the gelateria's co-owner, discovered the Italian version of ice cream when she tried ...

Summer! Mosquitoes, heat, and thunder storms (and fans instead of air conditioning). I am a summer person and have always loved staying in Vienna during the hot months. The city has a lot to offer: swimming in its public aquatic centers, cycling in the Prater, hikes across the hills and mountains to the south, sailing on Lake Neusiedl, afternoon excursions to the little wineries, the Heurigen, which sell simple home made fare and cool, refreshing spritzers - and evenings spent outdoors, in the backyards of restaurants, under chestnut trees. Chestnut trees - actually horse chestnuts - are ubiquitous in Vienna. They grow to 100 feet tall and blossom in May with long, upright panicles which are white or, more unusually, an old fashioned reddish rose color. The leaves are broad and divided, and in July soft, spiky burrs are already well visible. In the fall, when the leaves turn yellow, then brown, the burrs will crack open, revealing a shiny brown fruit....