Food Poem Fridays: Cindy Gregg's THOUGHTFUL VOYEUR: WOMAN AND CANTALOUPE

Thoughtful Voyeur: Woman and Cantaloupe
by Cindy Gregg

Watch her select it
over sassier summer
fruits, carved offerings
of purple, yellow,
red in a supermarket
stunned with
fluorescent light.

Seeing her slice it open,
ponder how the melon
secrets its exquisite
pastel beneath a rough,
webby exterior, silent
protest to the showy
outer life of
its every former
neighbor – apple,
banana, strawberry, grape.

Later on, recall
the knife's decisiveness,
the sudden exposure of
such a pleasing hue,
its juicy glisten
brightening, gladdening
her stark white kitchen
with a brief and modest blush.

Beijing and Hong Kong Food

Eating wild blackberries while hiking an unrestored section of the Great Wall;
Having a Baishi apricot blossom tea ice at the sculpture garden of the Pace gallery in Beijing's 798 Art District;
Yogurt snacks at Wangfujing Night Market in Beijing;
Hot pot ingredients come to you on a conveyor belt on "Gourmet Street," the food court at Oriental Plaza in Beijing;
Shaved ice, red bean, and condensed milk desserts;
Mung bean popsicles -- many people were cooling off with these at Tiananmen Square, so I had to try one;
Tasting fine jasmine and osmanthus green and oolong teas in Hong Kong;
Even Starbucks has adapted to the Asian preference for jellies.

Matcha Source

Rob G. and I toasting his upcoming wedding (and cooling off) at the Matcha Source pop-up shop in Soho.

Thanks for the shout-out, Matcha Source! Here's one right back "atcha":

Matcha Source provides high quality powdered green tea from Japan. Chefs love this stuff because it is so delicious, good for you, and blends easily into both liquids and fats, making it a wonderful ingredient for desserts especially but also all kinds of drinks.

Through July, they have a pop-up shop on Crosby Street between Broome and Grand. If enough of us go, maybe Soho will get a more permanent one-stop shop for all things matcha!