Memories, the Pyrenees & a recipe

Welcome to Fridays post, the end of the week for some! But I know not for alI. The 24/7 life that has developed since the 60’s doesn’t work to that rhythm so much now.

I remember when, not so long ago, I worked as a waitress and Kitchen Porter while retraining in Ayurveda and Hypnotherapy. Moving through my menopause, the split shifts took some getting used to and there was always one on a Saturday. At the end of the evening shift I’d stumble home as night became Sunday morning. The streets full of younger people laughing, screaming, falling over, getting up — sometimes. Feeling as though every cell in my body was about to collapse through tiredness, but also with a warm heart because that work created an extended family around me, full of warmth and laughter.

Working in hospitality can be like that. You find yourself in a kind of make or break situation because the work is so intensely pressurised for everyone, and you either find a way of coming together through warmth and laughter, or the place suffers. I was lucky to be working in a family run business who cared about their staff and I had a fantastic team of people to work with. If you are in the U.K., like good food, live jazz, and a warm and vibrant setting I recommend visiting Green Park Brazzerie in Bath, it’s a great place with a kitchen that is run by the best of chefs - Steve. Live jazz can be found on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday evenings.

I took this work on after arriving back from a gap year that turned into three, after my sons had sailed out into the world.

These were really interesting years during which I moved between two eco-projects — Ecodharma and Embercombe — and the Schumacher College, thanks in part to the EU for funding a skill-share project I took part in.

Ecodharma was based in a remote mountain valley in the Sierra de Carreu of the Catalan Pyrenees.

I arrived on a dark and stormy night. A lovely lady called Carol picked me up from the bus and we drove to a village called Abella de la Conca, then the road ran out and we carried on driving along a dirt track. It was late, dark and the rain was coming down in sheets as I settled into the little caravan I would be staying in. The stove was alight and the firelight lit up the table and bed. Bed is where I went, tired but oh so happy to be there.

The Catalan Pyrenees have a silence to them that goes deep into your being. I did a lot of foraging during my time there and the only sound I ever heard was goat bells, always in the distance, as I clambered and slipped through the mountain pathways that were so often covered in shingle. Those goat bells were such a lovely sound, warm and friendly, as they tinkled into my day like little commas, within an ancient silence that healed my bones — this is where I completed the three months of an Ayurvedic approach to heal the digestive issues I’d suffered from for so long.

My other work while staying there was to cook for everyone. The fruit and vegetables were so fresh, with the oranges and tomatoes the absolute best I have ever eaten.

I made a lot of humus there for people to eat, so here’s a recipe that reminds me of that lovely place.

ROASTED FENNEL & CAYENNE HUMMUS

For those who don’t know their Ayurvedic constitution, if you have too much heat in your body causing you to feel impatient, irritable, angry, relentlessly driving yourself and others, perhaps suffering from heat rashes, inflammation or ulcers; leave out the cayenne pepper!

The pungent quality of cayenne pepper is great for Kapha types especially at this time of year — late winter to early spring — but not so good for pitta types. In small quantities it is okay for vata types (the pungent quality can dry vata types out so better not to consume if vata dosha is out of balance. Later in the year there will be a podcast explaining Ayurvedic basics.

I sautéed half a fennel bulb in ghee, added one clove of chopped garlic and 1/2 a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root. The hummus is the normal recipe (2 cups of chickpeas, 1/3 cup of light tahini, the juice of 1/2-1 freshly lemon, 1 clove of garlic, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a little water if needed or more olive oil, rock salt to season). Add cayenne pepper to your hummus. Start with 1/2 a teaspoon then add more if you need it. Serve the fennel on a bed of humus and vata types drizzle with lots of olive oil!

Till Sunday, warmest wishes.

Lucy x