Not everyone can harvest wild summer berries from Central Park. You might know a lot about berries, you might know where they are, you might even know how to pick them properly and not destroy the bushes. But the question is, are you susceptible to poison ivy? That’s the main obstacle; can you wade through poison ivy and either not get bit by it or not care if you do?
Thank God Joe can.
So up I went to his flat on the now elegant Central Park North, and into his fabulous kitchen of vintage American electrical appliances, and sat down for a nice dinner of Wild Salmon with Yuzu Aioli, which was delicious and lovely, but here’s what we had afterward:
He made a Jasmine Sambac and Wild Raspberry cornstarch pudding....Joe and I agree entirely on the lovely harmony between these two delectable gustatory gems. Those rich ripe raspberry notes in an aged Sambac Absolute married to the real and present tiny, tickley ripened-on-the-bush wild raspberries themselves.....that’s your ticket to paradise, my dear.
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| Sambac/ Raspberry Pudding and Blueberry Brandy |
The recipe is simplicity itself and here is the one he used, with a few small changes. I think it’s originally off the Argo cornstarch box, and I’ve substituted jasmine sambac absolute for vanilla.
Cornstarch Pudding
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Chill Time: 30 minutes minutes
Yield: 3 cups
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Argo® or Kingsford’s® Corn Starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Couple tiny drops of Jasmine Sambac Absolute
Combine sugar, corn starch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Add egg yolks.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Stir in Jasmine.
Pour in a serving bowl OR pour equal amounts into 4 individual serving bowls. Cover and chill a minimum of 30 minutes
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| That's wild blueberry brandy on the right |
And that’s what he did. Each bowl got a couple of generous spoonfuls of wild red raspberries (from Central Park) on top (their juice forming a little red pool of fresh) and you’re not gonna find this dessert anywhere outside of those 4 walls, damn!
He followed it up with wild blueberry brandy!!! Made from another wild harvest, and steeped for over a year, this was narcotic nirvana itself. Makes me want to live in a place with seasons again!
Walking towards downtown in the cooling night air, alongside the park, wind rustling in the trees, so fresh and clean, there is no place like New York on a late summer night.
