Ah, homemade Giyoza and rice. Fantabulous. Shiso giyoza, I should add. Aside from Baudelaire, I’m not aware of many poets who have written about food, although I’m sure there are some. Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons does include the headings (such as roast beef) and in fact my father has a recipe book that may be Stein’s or Toklas’ (we used the hashish brownies recipes a few times), I can’t remember. Food and cooking, and in fact the whole gustatory “thing” is really important for me. However, I can’t say I’ve ever really written about food or eating… I’m not sure how to approach it. My interest is more in the raw materials: herbs, spices, bare ingredients. Being most interested in Indian cooking (there is a cute story behind my predilection for Indian food, but not now), the ingredients I tend to appreciate are primarily used in South East Asian Cuisine. The only exception is Jalapeños, which are terrible in Indian food. Were I to make a poem out of spices, a good balance of Cardamom, about one black to five green, would form the rhythmic base. Ginger would no doubt carry most of the melody. Garlic would certainly be the most complex to include. In poem such as this, the garlic must be barely perceptible but still present. In keeping with the general trend of omitting the ‘in additions’, ‘therefores’, and as many articles and prepositions possible – in short the novelistic spices – I would leave out most European garden herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary etc.