浪漫炉子

我偶然遇到了法国人。一个共同的朋友和我在星期六早上在咖啡厅停下来，他碰巧吃早餐。他短暂站起来，要求我们加入他。

Olive-complexioned, Frenchman was in his early 40s but looked younger. At 6- foot-4, his lanky figure had been chiseled by tennis and soccer. I liked the way he ran his fingers through his dark hair and the way he sat, leaning casually with his legs crossed. I fancied his long eyelashes, longer fingers with perfect horizontal manicure, his designer jeans. I thought he was beautiful; I wanted to touch him.

I was obsessed with the crossword puzzle folded into a neat quarter-page on Frenchman’s lap while he held his pen and coffee cup in the same hand. It was the tough day for crosswords, and nearly all the squares were filled.

That’s hot, I said to myself.

We exchanged pleasantries between sips of cappuccino. Our conversation quickly pivoted to our recent travels and global affairs. I felt his energy as we talked. A few minutes later, Frenchman asked me out on a date. He wrote my phone number in the margin of his unfinished crossword. We met for dinner four days later.

Frenchman was my kind of person.

He listened to classical music, jazz, and NPR. Frenchman loved words and obsessively studied the etymology of dictionary entries. I made my living on storytelling, yet when we played Scrabble, he’d beat me by 75 points. Frenchman said he loved me for my intelligence, my social and cultural awareness.

我立即爱上了他。他用正式英语说话的方式，他用男中音的讲话方式使我着迷。然后是他宣布我的名字的方式：Zha-mee-lah。尽管如此，他的食欲使我最吸引了我。

I’d spent many years as an editor, managing restaurant critics, observing dining habits. Frenchman could eat. On one of our dates he asked to finish my pasta dish which was cold, gummy, and swimming in greige sauce with dollar-store parsley flakes. Jeez, he’s really hungry, I assumed.

“你总是留下一点，”他谈到我未触及的剩菜时说道。

当我吃饱时，我停止吃饭。法国人从来没有饱。他将完成他正在吃的东西以及我开始的任何盘子。法国人吸入的食物使我看起来侧身。亚搏电竞冷燕麦片。可疑的剩菜鸡。冰淇淋一个季节过期的日期。

As we continued to see each other, I kept track of fresh things Frenchman liked to eat. Coffee. Honey. Chocolate.

Cooking is the only way I know how to seduce a man. I’d managed to reel in other boyfriends with a roast chicken here and handmade pasta there. I rarely dated. I’ve been called “complicated”—and not in a good way. Food is my way to bypass the friend zone. I’d usually start with a gateway recipe, something easy like a pot de crème or a quiche.

法国人第一次邀请我过来，我问我是否可以带甜点。我使用Jean-Georges Vongerichten几年前使用的四型方法烤熔融巧克力蛋糕，使用了最好的法国巧克力fèves和Tahitian香草豆。当我们谈论自己的日子并玩了一轮拼字游戏时，法国人用手吞噬了这些糕点。“Ouf,这些真是太好了，”他闭着眼睛说，摇了摇头。

法国人一直邀请我过来，所以我一直带他的甜点。

我会用最好的当地蜂蜜注入胸衣，然后将其卸载到焦糖池中，然后用柠檬百里香叶装饰。我会介绍他tartes aux citron我的祖母使用同样的柠檬凝乳食谱教了我6岁的时候，早就可以使用炉子。

“你为我做的任何东西都是特别的，因为我总是吃同样的东西，”法国人每当我愿意做饭时说道。法国人做饭不多。他在厨房柜台和一台Keurig咖啡机上放了一根蛋白质奶昔的混合物。有时有水果。他的炉子在很大程度上没有被触动。

I cooked new dishes for him every chance I could as a deliberate act of love. I loved watching him scarf down food I’d prepared, tickled by the way he’d twist pappardelle around his fork. I blushed when he’d sop sauce withLe Quignon—the rounded end of a baguette. For Frenchman, nothing I cooked ever needed more salt or garlic. He didn’t care if a dish was bland or the pasta was too al dente because, as he’d tell me with a shrug, “After I finish my meal I’m going to make love to you.”

我越深入法国人，我的菜就越精致。我会在一个工作日的一个晚上做炖羊肉和柠檬酸。他会告诉我我很漂亮，请我走近。当我向他展示豌豆泥和Orzo上的黄油扇贝，然后用我的花园里的西红柿露出西红柿时，法国人会靠在我的椅子上，将他的脸靠在我的脸颊上。如果我用柠檬奶油奶酪糖霜制作胡萝卜蛋糕，我们会在地板上做爱。

爱会让你煮复杂。对于法国人来说，我掌握了一项为期三天的技术来弄脏鸭腿。他喜欢这道菜。我在冰箱里放了一桶鸭脂肪，这样我就可以轻松地治愈腿或炸土豆。法国人会将肉与腿部分开，并保存酥脆的皮肤，以便最后咬一口。

“您是唯一的女人，除了我的母亲，还曾经为我做饭。”

Frenchman said this when he especially enjoyed a meal. When I asked him about her most memorable dish, he’d become animated: “Lapin à la moutarde!” Braised rabbit with mustard.

我不熟悉。当他描述母亲如何煮兔子时，他斜视和厨师的吻，他的口音将在法国以南。显然这个国家的炖菜很特别。我下定决心要煮它。

I had traveled in France, including the region where Frenchman was from, but could not recall ever eating rabbit with mustard. Some U.S. magazines referred to it, but there were no recipe reviews. French magazines called it a “grandma’s dish” but offered no helpful guidance. There was conflicting information on how to serve it. But how hard could it be?

LapinàlaMoutarde是一道简单的菜。青葱。香菜。亚搏电竞葡萄酒。我只需要兔子。经过一番研究和30分钟的车程，我发现了一家商店，展出了四只小型，完整的兔子。但是当屠夫持有我的批准时，我蠕动了。我一生都在做饭，但不知道如何选择兔子。

What should I look for? How should it smell?

I began to overthink the recipe, because I had no idea what I was doing. Should the sauce be beige or brown? Do I deglaze the pan with white wine or red? Do I serve it with a salad? How. Is It. Supposed. To. Taste? No chef friend I could call was familiar enough with lapin à la moutarde to help me. Frenchman didn’t cook. Somehow, the idea of cooking a dish for someone I cared deeply about began to give me anxiety.

最后，我问法国人他想吃什么。

He touched the side of my face and said lovingly, “I know that whatever you cook, it will be great because you made it.”

That night, I put down the rabbit and made duck confit.

法国人说这是他有史以来最好的。

获取食谱：Lemon Curd Tart.