Thursday, March 15, 2012

Birth of Bishop Berkeley Bandelion Boup


Bishop Berkeley was born exactly 326 years before I made this soup, at home in a castle. I'll leave it to you to resolve the ambiguity of that sentence. Berkeley (pronounced "Barkley") is best known for writing this crazy book of philosophy called A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, which I haven't read in years but which I remember fondly as basically espousing a theory that the world is strictly perceptual, metaphysically speaking. As in, the computer I'm typing on right now doesn't exist at all independent of a perceptual apparatus. If I were to turn my back on the computer in an otherwise empty room, it would cease to exist if it weren't for God's omnipresent virtual gaze, the world being held in his mind's eye at all times. There's something unnervingly relevant and penetrating about a seventeenth-century reduction of ontology to the mere two categories ideas and spirits. Welcome to the internet.

This dandelion soup is an imitation of a soup my friend E. made a while back. It is not as good as hers and I don't know why. I think it might be because I used too much water and not enough oil and salt. Possibly the dandelion-to-cabbage ratio should be lower.

serves: 3-4
prep. time: approx. 30 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. soft tofu, cubed
1 bundle dandelion leaves, chopped
1/2 green cabbage, sliced
water
garam masala
allspice
salt
1/2 bulb garlic, minced
some kind of seed oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Boil the vegetables and tofu in a pot of water. Season.
2. Once the cabbage is soft, transfer the soup in batches to a blender and liquefy.
3. Saute the garlic briefly in oil. Drizzle (or rather pour) over each bowl of soup.

A review of Gerhard Richter Painting.
A video of cows and a CEO.

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