Gastronomic Lunch Hours

Gina Cheng of Grand Toastmasters Club called me yesterday evening to my surprise when I was busy preparing dinner for my husband. She told me with full excitement that she made chicken risotto and she wished to invite me to her office for lunch today.

At 12 noon, I arrived at Gina's office to see two plates of chicken risotto and two bowls of pumpkin soup on a small round table. It was the first time I had such an intimate gastronomic lunch with a toastmaster friend in an office. I just loved it!

Gina's chicken risotto, or chicken paella or chicken jambalaya, so to speak, looked very rich and colorful. She cooked white rice with green, red, and yellow bell peppers, onions, chopped chicken breast, fresh mushrooms, saffron, garlic, olive oil and other Italian seasoning.

We started our lunch with the pumpkin soup, but I couldn't wait to have my first bite of chicken risotto half way of our soup ritual. Yummy as it tasted, I was at once reminded of the most delicious seafood paella I had in Casablanca ten years ago with my business associate. I was invited to his friend's mansion for dinner, sit on the floor covered with Persian carpet, surrounded by a big crowd of Arab gentlemen.

While savoring Gina's proud homemade paella, we exchanged our traveling plans in 2009. Gina plans to visit Germany and France for 18 days in late May. I plan to visit Italy and Senegal for two months in July and August. The coming adventures of us were the main themes of our lunch rendezvous. We were excited to explore various local delicacies soon in Europe and Africa.

Gina's eyes opened wide when I told her that my parents-in-law grew rosemary in their front yard in Pu-tzu. I made many bottles of freshly dried rosemary in virgin olive oil last summer. Gina was happy when I told her that I would give a bottle for her rib and lamb chop.

After lunch, I served caramel almond flakes and mulberry jam I brought along for desserts. While I helped Gina prepare coffee, her colleague helped her fetch a bottle of fresh milk. While sipping the delicious coffee, I proposed to Gina that we could meet with each other once a month for gastronomic lunch hours. We can take turns showcasing our newly developed recipes to satisfy our taste buds as well as to provide each other with constructive evaluations for improvements in our kitchens.

At one o'clock, our lunch gathering came to a perfect end when Gina presented a bag of frozen chicken risotto for my husband. And I didn't forget to ask for Gina's signature on my cookbook 2009 to mark the beginning of our culinary journey in front of us.