Column | Lesson in a quince apple
The Hindu
Wisdom according to Phuphee could be knowing when to add fruit to a meat dish, or how to let your kids pursue their dreams
One day a dispute of an odd nature reached Phuphee. She was in the kitchen standing over a bubbling pot of bumtchoont ti maaz (quince apples and meat). It was a balmy August afternoon and she had come in from the orchards with a basket full of golden quinces. They had been washed, cored and sliced into wedges, before she had fried them and set them aside. When the meat was halfway done, she had added the bumtchoont and let the flavours mingle.
The steam from the pot had clouded her glasses, but even without looking out of the window, she instructed one of the helpers to make some kahwa in preparation for guests. I looked out of the window trying to figure out who the three people walking towards the house were, when she nudged me with the wooden chonche (a chunky wooden spoon) and said, ‘The important thing to remember about bumtchoont ti maaz is that you must wait till the meat is halfway done before adding the fried fruit. If you add it any sooner, it will be a lumpy mess.’
She instructed one of the other helpers to take the dish off the daan in 20 minutes, and to serve it to the guests for lunch.
‘How do you know they will stay for lunch?’ I asked.
‘Arguing with your children is hard work,’ she replied with a wink. I had no idea what she was going on about.
‘Come and sit with me and learn.’ She held my hand and led the way.
The family of three — father, mother and their daughter — were waiting in Phuphee’s room and drinking hot cups of kahwa.