Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Yesterday Kamyar and I went to the Isis pub by the river, just the two of us, something we hadn’t done for a long time. We got our two pints of Guinness and went to sit outside. There was the faintest hint of autumn chill in the air that always almost simultaneously makes me sad (as I remember the feeling such weather used to give me when I was little) and extremely happy (as I remember that I am now thirty and do not go to school anymore). We sat under an apple tree by the little pool and fountain.
As I took my first sip from my pint Kamyar said, ‘So I turned you into a Guinness lover too.’
‘Yes you did.’ I said and then got thinking while taking another sip. ‘I can think of a good few other things as well that just because of you I became familiar with and now like a lot?’
‘Like what?’
One finger ‘Guinness’ two fingers ‘Grand Prix’ Three fingers ‘Names of cars’ Four fingers ‘Tom Waits’
‘That’s good’ he said, ‘I think it’s really bad if a person doesn’t know the names of cars.’
‘Now can you think of anything that you used to dislike or didn’t think much of but now like or find interesting since being with me?’ He got thinking for a while.
I finally came to his rescue, ‘How about lamb?’ He seemed relived and very thankful, ‘yes lamb’ he said, ‘I never used to like lamb before and now I love it.’ He took another sip. ‘Khoreshteh aloo esfenaj (lamb spinach and plums stew with rice)’ he said a few seconds later, looking very pleased with himself for remembering this. ‘Yes’ I said, raising my eyebrows and shrugging my shoulders, ‘but isn’t that just the lamb thing again? You probably didn’t like that because you didn’t like lamb.’
‘Marmite’
‘Can you think of anything else aside from food though?’
There was silence again for a while as we both got thinking. ‘How about hanging stuff to dry?’ Asked Kamyar, ‘Does that count?’
‘If you consider hanging clothes to dry to be one of your hubbies or favourite pastimes now days, then yes I guess it does count.’
A fly landed in Kamyar's pint. He rescued it and flicked it out into the garden.
‘But I think you should definitely count Khoreshteh aloo esfenaj as one because I never used to like that dish but now it’s in my top five most favourites.’ Pause ‘I think maybe I could even go as far as saying it is my number one.’
‘Ok I’ll count that as well’ I said ‘but even so the bottom line is that at best I have managed to change your mind about a couple of food dishes while under your influence I have gone from not even knowing the name of a single car to watching Top Gear and Fifth Gear to not only watching the Grand Prix but also knowing the names of nearly all the drivers and knowing enough about the whole thing to be able to make comments like, ‘I think Kimi Raikkonen is a better driver than Alonzo but he has just been very unlucky with his car this year.’ I knew I wasn’t being fair. I’m sure if there actually was a Formula 1 type race for Aloo Esfanaj Kamyar would become just as fascinated with it as I had become with Grand Prix. ‘to’ I continued regardless, ‘even allowing your toy cars…’
‘Burago’
‘… whatever, to be put around the flat. Now that my friend is what I call taking an interest in what the other person is interested in.’
‘How about leaving Iran and coming to live in England?’
‘Yes now I really had to twist your arm about that one, didn’t I?’
‘Cuddling’ he said at last, ‘Now that is something I never thought I would one day want to do so much of.’
What a cutie.


PS We saw Bambi as well while we were in the pub. She was having a little wander in the garden, only about six meters away from us. Then she got frightened by a squirrel and jumped into the bushes.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

:-)

this makes my day
amanda

Anonymous said...

ahhh great post my friend, I think you very happy about guiness but how you feel about ferrari not winning this year ? you root for MBZ instead ?

Anonymous said...

LOL :-))))))))))))))))))

Just brilliant!

Shahin

Anonymous said...

How about all the Stan-up comedians and all the best comedy Series like Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Billy Connelly, Only Fools and Horses, Father Ted…. I didn’t know any of these before knowing you.
It’s my stupid memory; I never remember stuff at the right time or maybe because after thinking about ‘Khoreshteh aloo esfenaj’ I forgot everything else :)

Anonymous said...

Khoreshteh Aloo Esfenaj, just thinking about it makes me sick! Kamyar, I have to say F1, Car Names & Tom Waits are just... How could you compare those life changing influences to Khoreshteh Aloo Esfenaj, it is just sad :-)
Ok I give her Eddie Izzard, that is a good one.

Cheers,

Shahin

nyx said...

Hi Shirin, I've just found my way to your blog. What a nice experience :-)
I think this is a female/male thing. My husband has turned me into a football-freak, and I've given him a few more pounds ;-)

Anonymous said...

Have you tried khoreshte aloo-esfenaj with shrimp?Hahahahaha... I know I am driving you crazy Shirin joon, but then, what else a CRAZY CHEF can do?

Now seriously, cuddling is the greatest!!!

By the way guys and gals, did you know that that cute drawing is done by Shirin herself and it is herself and Kamyar joon? How come I know it? Hmmmm... just guess Shirin....

God bless both of you.

Anonymous said...

Shahin this is exactly how I felt when I was young and immature, same feeling when you can’t enjoy metal music but after discovering it you’re stuck for the rest of your life. I hope one day you will understand the magic of this ugly but delicious (beyond any professional chef’s imagination) food.

Anonymous said...

Cute yes.
They come up with an answer like thata dn they how can U not forget all the rest that came before?!?!? ;)

Anonymous said...

kamyar, if shirin is thanking you for tom waits, can i blame you for metal music being in my life?

i am just teasing. i commend you for not allowing your wonderful smart wife to go on not knowing about cars. it's inexcusable. of course, i teach people about cars for a living, so i am biased.

Shirin said...

Hey Asad it’s great to hear from you. Hope you’re having fun on your travels. I must say I have never been a Ferrari gal myself, I’ve always preferred (I know that Shahin does not approve:-) the iceman himself, Kimi Raikenon and so yes I’m on Maclaren Mercedes’ side. Grand Prix has become so much more exciting since Michael Schumacher has not been winning all the races.

Crazy Chef
1- I refuse to believe that it’s a good idea to put shrimps in Aloo-esfenaj! Of course you could take up Joey’s (from Friends) philosophy and argue that, ‘Plums; goood, Spinach; good, Onions; goood, Shrimps; goooood. What’s not to like?’ But still you would not convince me.
2- Now that I think I know who you are, do you think it is appropriate for me to continue calling you the Crazy Chef?

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha Ha....

And the answer is....... Who am I????

Hi Hi Hi....

Doesn't matter baby....

What DOES matter is that I LOOOOVE you & Kamyar loving each other so very much...

GOD BLESS YOU BOTH !!!!!

Anonymous said...

....out of curiousity....

who do you thnik I am?????

GazanKhan said...

I saved the beautiful picture of you two and used it as screen saver. Now I'm just saving screen all the time.is that healthy?

Anonymous said...

now that's excellent writing! and what a beautiful drawing of you too! I just love it!