December
13 Thursday Dec 2012
Posted Diary
in13 Thursday Dec 2012
Posted Diary
in15 Thursday Nov 2012
(Soundtrack: Autumn Leaves)
Today is one of those deep autumn days. Outside is misty, and I wish I was surrounded by the moorland. Instead, I have to make do with the paths and the views of Springfield, the village I live in.
Mmmh…I think this weather calls for some cinnamon-related sweets, don’t you? Maybe I can even start to think about those Christmas decorations. Wait a minute, Halloween was few weeks ago, right? This, in Federica-land, means I am authorised to open up again that guilty pleasure of mine, the Christmas songs folder! Yey!!!!
But the real positive thing about this November is what I discovered today at the supermarket: the romanesco cabbage is here! My favourite type of cabbage! (Do you just say you have a FAVOURITE cabbage? You mean, not only you like cabbage, you even have a FAVOURITE one??? Yes, I know, I belong to that restricted club of people that not only like cabbage, but that also eat it with pleasure. Which is fortunate, I suppose, since in this country where green-leaved vegs are notoriously scarce, the only ever-present veg is cabbage, in all shapes and sizes: white cabbage, cavolo nero, red cabbage, kale, savoy cabbage, green cabbage, greens – which are not green leaves as we mean it in Italy – cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and purple sprouting broccoli. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.)
Look at it. Isn’it cool? Even leaving aside the fantastic apple green colour, how cool is its shape? It’s like a spiralled-cone made up of lots of smaller cones (forgive me if I don’t know the exact number), which are in turn made up of what I am sure is an equal number of even smaller cones and so on, to infinity and beyond. Is your head spinning yet?
My love for the romanesco cabbage (which, incidentally, has always been known as pigna, cone, in my house) is good for my self-esteem. The simple fact that I like this cabbage so much, in fact, is a clear indication of my highly developed aesthetic sensibility. If you think that this one here is a fortuitous nature’s accident, perhaps even a freak…well, you are wrong. And more importantly, don’t even think of getting into architecture or maths. Because the aforementioned Mister Cabbage is not an accident. Its little cones follow a logarithmic spiral based on the Phi number. Mister Phi, on its behalf, is such a beautiful and irrational number (did you hear that, girls? that’s what you should say next time you have PMS! 🙂 ) and is so common in nature, that since the Renaissance has been adopted as a measure of beauty and proportion.
Is my aesthetic sensibility awesome or what?
What about you? Do you have a favourite veg? What veg is inspiring you this autumn?