so there we were, lined up along our humble workbench, telling our fingers what we wanted our dumplings to look like, and hoping they would listen. some of us were experienced dumpling folders... and while willing and enthusiastic, some of us probably don't even fold our own laundry, let alone dumplings. but it's a cloudy saturday afternoon and we're happy to be keeping each other company while ducking away from the looming rain. in between the stories and the laughs, you can look up once in a while from the trance of your own hands and notice people's lips moving gently-- counting, in fact-- '....4, 5, 6, 7, 8! ...cinq, six, sept, huit!' and then you'd look down at your own parcel and think-- wait, how many folds was that? and, what's in these ones again? ...what were we just talking about?
...4 dumpling fillings, more than a couple of hours, and god knows how many folds later, we're stuffed. we've eaten so many dumplings we're delirious. and while our stomachs couldn't possibly crave for more, our minds are craving for something more than counting up to the number 8. fair enough. so out comes the mandolin! and now begins a night of magic! ....it was such a beautiful progression to the night-- no one quite knew just how it would unfold. it all started with mat and his beautiful mandolin... he quietly disappeared from the kitchen and we found him in the living room unveiling his instrument from its case. the next to join in was victor, with his well-worn, but also well-loved guitar. a song and a jam later, there appeared a melodica. perfect, we really needed one of those! but wait-- there's more. it was as if everyone was drawn into this musical movement. and slowly but surely, there was another guitar-- and ukelele, and a flute, and a harmonica, and an oboe, and various percussive and sliding instruments that i can't even identify--- AND a chorus of voices that were there the whole time, just waiting for the right moment to free themselves. we somehow elevated into this space where everyone synced together, instruments and voices weaved in and out of one another, and the wine lent its hand to loosening up our rhythms in its own special way...AMAZING.... at some point in the night, i remember thinking to myself.... 'yeeeess.... this is 8folds, right here in my living room... feel the love!... when i get to portugal in may next year, THIS is what i'm bringing with me...'
well selina and i have been hashing out recipes to work out which flavours we really want to bring out in our dumplings. and we decided that the best way to do this would be to have a 'dumpling day' with a bunch of our friends so that we could try out different ideas, different recipes, and get some very valuable feedback from everyone. well i have to express a big and warm thank you to everyone who came over to support us! we had a mix of australian, french, spanish, dutch, and mauritian friends-- and of course selina and i--- stuffing, folding, cooking, eating, stuffing, folding, cooking, eating, little parcels of deliciousness for the better part of the afternoon. and it was wonderful! and not only that but learning, laughing, sharing, and making beautiful music once we decided that we just couldn't eat anymore! we were also fortunate enough to have some brilliant and willing photographers amongst us who were kind enough to capture a bit of what we did so that we can share it here with you on this blog. (cheers to anthony, rachael and erin!) we came away with some very thorough and very much appreciated comments from everyone and this was exactly what we needed to push our vision forward. and forward it shall go!
love, hugs and dumplings,
alice xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment