Last night my dear friend Stuart Klipper (the world-traveled Photographer and Antarctic bon vivant) prepared an ALL-WHITE “Last Supper” to send me off to Antarctica in style! For those wondering what an all-white meal in Minnesota might possibly include (other than rice pudding or cheese), here is the chef’s menu.
Read it and weep!
***** CASA DEL KLIPPER *****
Appetizer
Translucent slivers of Lardo (Tuscany-style herb-cured pork lard) on an
artisan Semolina bread (white sesame seed crust), paired with a potent
Grappa.
Vegetable du Jour
Autumn Cauliflower with Bechamel sauce.
Entre
Savory pork roast with garlice gnocchi (tiny potato-dumpling noodles).
Don’t try this one without Stuart’s immediate supervision, friends! I’ve
never experienced such sublime pork. As he tells it, the pork roast was
massaged with olive oil and rubbed down with white pepper and lavender, then
befriended on the roasting pan by a white onion. While the oven heated, he
read aloud Rumi poems in the kitchen. Meanwhile, a flock of feather-light
gnocchi were boiled and tossed with olive oil, pine nuts and garlic. At the
last possible second, WHITE POPPY SEEDS were added to the hot pan, coating
the gnocchi with a microscopic crust! Pure genius.
White Wine
Domiane de Puy, served in plastic beakers….
Desert
Coconut-frosted cupcakes (from Minneapolis’s own Turtle Bread)
***********
Stuart also gave me a parting gift for my upcoming trip to the south pole:
a South Pole 2006 Zipperpull Pendant, designed by his friend Betty Risser
at GEOSITU.COM. Ideal for those fumbling with tiny zippers and giant
gloves!
Quick history about the South Pole Geological Marker:
“Each January first, the position of 90 degrees South is determined and
marked with a five inch brass marker. Each year, day by day, the marker is
carried away by the movement of the glacial ice cap.” Hence — a new
geological marker every year! Talk about your moving targets. I don’t want
to give away the top-secret 2006 South Pole marker design, but it features a
cunning tribute to a certain new station…. Lovely. (Thanks Stuart!!!)
The Orebody 