Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Blue Ribbon Winner
by venitha
"Anything else that looks good, Sarah?" I asked, filling out the order card at our favorite Thai restaurant, circling all our standards and then some.
"This." She pointed to a picture on the menu.
In town for three days, and she'd already honed in on the blue ribbon winner at the Asian dessert bake-off. Of course, mango with sticky rice is the only entrant in the Yummy category, what with all the other desserts fiercely food-fighting it out over in the Revolting section. The judges' eyes sting from air hazy with the yellow-gray smoke of durian stink bombs, and spectators must constantly duck great glistening globs of grass jelly that land with a sickening splat, then ooze down the wall.
Over in Yummy, mango with sticky rice does not rely on its lonely status but puts on a dazzling, tantalizing show. Against a backdrop of golden honey fireworks, Chinese acrobats entertain to the lively strains of "Carnival of the Animals". Warm orange spotlights trace mango-slice arcs as the gymnasts effortlessly launch each other ever higher and higher, flying through the air in a taste explosion before alighting gracefully onto a pillowy sticky rice trampoline, playfully splashing sweet and creamy coconut milk in a perfect circle of dainty drops.
"One mango with sticky rice," I said. "Check."
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"This." She pointed to a picture on the menu.
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"One mango with sticky rice," I said. "Check."
venitha
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