This week’s words: Fizzy Herb Ginger Delicate Acerbic (sour or astringent in taste) Saftig (juicy in Swedish, I just don’t like the word juicy) Buttery Garlic Honeyed Tangy Umami (a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavour of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate.) Piquant (agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart) Seasoned Smokey Saporous (full of flavor or taste; flavorful.)
It was Esme Watson’s forty first year at the helm of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) annual cake and bake stall. For as long as Esme could remember she had been here at the Church Fete attending the CWA stall.
The CWA ladies over the years had prided themselves on their conservative approach to cooking. Nothing too delicate just good wholesome cakes and biscuits.
There was a minor uproar the year Ingrid Gutstaffson the Swedish wife of the Town Mayor turned up with a batch of what she called her saftig delights. It was agreed they didn’t meet the standards of the CWA, as you needed a spoon to eat them. CWA ladies always ate with their hands; it was considered la-di-dah to eat any other way.
Meg Johnson’s ginger and honey biscuits were always a treat. Meg swore by them as a health biscuit, low in everything including fat so they were always in great demand.
Then of course each year Glenys Towers would show up with something different, something she found in an obscure cookbook and want to thrust it on us all. Esme never fancied any of Glenys’ baking saying garlic and herbs had a place usually in a crock-pot not in a custard cream. She’d say such ingredients only made the biscuits acerbic and who wanted to munch on a sour bit of cooked dough.
Not everything at the CWA stall was a challenge. As you approached the stall your senses would be flooded with the piquant and saporous aromas of fresh cooked and baked goods all displayed prominently enticing you to fold your senses around the goods on display.
The CWA ladies also prided themselves that in all the years they had been running their stall they had never stooped to selling fizzy drink. It was always tea or coffee and nothing else. A good old cuppa with buttery scones or a slice of Harriet Jacobs’ smokey bacon never went astray.
At the far end of their tent were the seasoned and smoked goods. Hams that melted in your mouth, the umaminess enough to have you lingering over them longer than you should and coming away feeling you had put on two pounds in weight just from taking in the aromas.
Opposite the seasoned and smokey section was the dessert section where sweetness went hand in hand with the tangy aromas and tastes of the lemon filled pies and the magnificent pavlovas festooned with seasoned fruits and loads of meringue and cream each one a potential heart attack from the cholesterol alone.
Like most years the stall was a raging success. By days end a few ginger cakes and the odd honey baked muffin were all that remained. Esme closed the stall up feeling once again the CWA Ladies had done the fete proud.
Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/wordle-special-addition-taste-august-22nd-2016/
Morpethroad 