Some rice pudding for comfort, please
Today was a good but tiring day. Not because it was specifically hard or difficult; you just sometimes have days that ask for more energy than others.
When I have one of those days, it is a lovely time to be an adult with some leftover money.
As I biked home from my job, I stopped on the way at the local supermarket. Armed with 5 euros, I was scouring the aisles for some of my favorite snacks. I started to think about what I actually like to eat when I feel like treating myself and how it must be so very different for everyone. I started to list items in my head and think about why or where I picked them up.
The first one is not really a food but a candy mint. When I was younger, we often had to stay in after-school study since my dad and mom used to work late. When they came to pick us up, my mother always gave us her purse to hunt for some stray Hartmints left on the bottom. Nothing has ever tasted as sweet as one of those mints in the back of the car.
My grandmother used to make us buttermilk porridge1 when we were preschoolers. My sister could down 2 or 3 plates in one sitting, but I did not like the sour taste. Her being the loving woman she is, she made me milk pudding with brown sugar2. My favorite dessert to this day.
My friends occasionally tease me with my choice in ice cream. They say I have an old man's taste. Ever since I was 7 or 8 years old, I've ordered the same combination, be it from the ice cream truck that stops in our street or the tearoom around the corner: two scoops, mokka, and pistachio. It's a match made in heaven.
What do you like to get for yourself when you need some good old comfort food?
Savoury greetings
Rat
Put a saucepan on the lowest heat. Pour the buttermilk (1,5 l) into the saucepan with the sugar (2 spoons) and rice (90 gr). Mix the flour (2 spoons) with some buttermilk and pour in with the mixture. Stir for 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. When it starts to boil, remove the saucepan from the heat. Serve with brown sugar.↩
Bring the milk (1l, whole) to a boil along with the sugar (150 gr). Rinse the rice (200 gr dessert rice) to remove excess starch. Add the rice to the milk and stir well. Cut the vanilla stick in half (lengthwise) and remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Add the seeds to the milk. Add the saffron to the milk. This will give the rice pudding its yellow colour. Simmer gently for 35 min, stirring every 5 min. Then add a spoonful of butter, which makes it creamy. Serve in a bowl. You can also serve the rice pudding with brown sugar.↩