“I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
A gourmand’s nature is at once both greedy and generous.
Born sensualists, they are hell-bent on painting with every colour from the start. They want what they want, the very best, and if that means shlepping halfway across the world in search of the decisive curry of their lives, then so be it—the prize is theirs alone.
But true appreciation is meant to be shared, and when they finally unearth a worthy prodigy, it is the greatest discovery of all. They educate them fiercely, send them far away, ply them with the rarest fruit, lay bare all their exquisite secrets only to see the sparkle of revelation in their eyes and recognise it as their own.
There can be no rank between those who know, for an eager apprentice is really a master in waiting. One may be a cheeky Northerner, one an esteemed professor, and sometimes they are one and the same.
For our sixth supper, we will hear the improbable story of the man whose ethos we pass off as our own.
It is our privilege to introduce Professor David Russell and the most indelible dishes of his life.