Rhubarb harvest 2016

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, summer harvest 2016 Styrsö

At the rhubarb patch in the corner of the garden, Styrsö.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

Strong winds, half grey skies that threaten a tropical thunderstorm at any minute, and a comfy 10degC outdoors. The Swedish west coast summer is coming along just fine.

Sitting cozy and happy in the corner of the garden are the rhubarb plants now ready for their first picking. These gorgeous leaved, crimson stalked perennials were widely used in China for their medicinal purposes long before finding their way to the middle-east and farther west in the medieval times.

I contemplated between using the first pickings towards pie filling, but then felt very much for stewed rhubarb instead. For a portion of that, what’s needed is about 200g of rhubarb with about 1 dl of white sugar, 2 dl of water and 2 heaped tsp of potato flour to thicken the stew. In Sweden, rhubarb stew or rabarberkräm is topped with either milk or if preferred, heavy cream.

Rhubarb 2016 Styrsö Continue reading “Rhubarb harvest 2016” →

Tektology in OXV: The Manual (2013)

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 20160519

I was once told that I should not bother with planning anything in my life. And so I’ve wondered if I hummed to high or low frequency. Perhaps the real question is, have I ever needed to wait for a train?
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

Alexander Bogdanov (1873-1928), developed a theory called Tektology as “the science of structures” as a forerunner to systems theory [1]. His main goal was to clarify in generalisable form the principles of the organization of all living and non-living structures:

“Tektology must clarify the modes of organization that are perceived to exist in nature and human activity; then it must generalise and systematise these modes; further it must explain them, that is, propose abstract schemes of their tendencies and laws… Tektology deals with organisational experiences not of this or that specialised field, but of all these fields together. In other words, tektology embraces the subject matter of all the other sciences.” [2]

I am probably a late developer. I spent an evening watching a 2013 produced movie, Frequencies, also known as OXV: The Manual. Continue reading “Tektology in OXV: The Manual (2013)” →

As simple as it gets

Posted on by cheryl

Poached cod, white asparagus.

Cod and mild vegetables. All poached – just under boiling – in as little water we could get away with.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

“Apologize to the turbot ’cause it died in vain. I said apologize! … Not to me, to the fish!” – Adam Jones to Helene in the movie Burnt (2015).

It is difficult to tell from where inspiration arises. It can be from a recent dinner, something a friend said in a recent conversation or you just bumping into a great bargain of some nice produce you have not had in a long time. Today, it was a little bit of all.

I guess it takes a special kind of personality to go directly from a great gourmet movie to your own home kitchen to whip out pots and pans and do something yourself. But a lot of eating is done with your eyes and if it looks good, maybe you can do something similar yourself?

This evening’s culinary adventure was pleasantly relaxed and an understated celebration of the coming of summer. A simple fare, mostly cooked just under boiling temperatures.

Continue reading “As simple as it gets” →

Train of thoughts

Posted on by cheryl

East to west bound, Sweden.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

“The first aspect of systems thinking concerns the relationship between the part and the whole. In the mechanistic, classical scientific paradigm it was believed that in any complex system the dynamics of the whole could be understood from the properties of the parts. Once you knew the parts, ie their fundamental properties and the mechanisms through which they interacted, you could derive, at least in principle, the dynamics of the whole. Therefore, the rule was: in order to understand any complex system, you break it up into its pieces. The pieces cannot be explained any further, except by splitting them into smaller pieces, but as far as you want to go in this procedure, you will at some stage end up with fundamental building blocks- elements, substances, particles, etc- with properties that you can no longer explain. From these fundamental building blocks with their fundamental laws of interaction you would then build up the larger whole and try to explain its dynamics in terms of the properties of its parts. This started with Democritus in ancient Greece and was the procedure formalized by Descartes Continue reading “Train of thoughts” →

Visiting Abbot Suger’s St. Denis: A visual language of light and architecture

Posted on by cheryl

Basilique Saint-Denis, Paris 2016

The choir of Saint-Denis, the birth place of Gothic architecture.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

It is generally thought that Gothic architecture was born when Abbot Suger (c.1081–1151) of the French Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis just north of Paris, undertook the renovation of the then Romanesque style structure of the Saint-Denis, the most sacred shrine in France. The work began in 1140 with the erection of a new western facade, and continued with a new choir at the eastern end, covering as he put it, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end of the basilica. Time did not let him see the new nave erected as he planned it but the foundation was laid. As the Saint-Denis Basilica Chatedral stands today what remains of Sugers work is the general appearance of the western fascade minus the northern tower, and the very important new choir at the eastern end. The nave is as he envisioned it but was built after his time. Most of the important glass windows was lost over the years or destroyed at the time of the French revolution at the end of the 18th century.

Continue reading “Visiting Abbot Suger’s St. Denis: A visual language of light and architecture” →

The latent image

Posted on by cheryl

IMG_5432 598

Auguste Rodin, L’aurore (Camille Claudel) c.1885, Musée Rodin, Paris.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

Dionysius the Areopagite

Mystical Theology

Chapter II

How it is necessary to be united with and render praise to Him Who is the cause of all and above all. Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray that we may come, and may attain unto vision through the loss of sight and knowledge, and that in ceasing thus to see or to know we may learn to know that which is beyond all perception and understanding (for this emptying of our faculties is true sight and knowledge), and that we may offer Him that transcends all things the praises of a transcendent hymnody, which we shall do by denying or removing all things that are like as men who, carving a statue out of marble, remove all the impediments that hinder the clear perceptive of the latent image and by this mere removal display the hidden statue itself in its hidden beauty. Continue reading “The latent image” →

Une petite cheese shop spectaculaire, Paris 2016

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, French cheeses, Paris 2016

Neatly tucked in between other more imposing shop facades along Rue de Grenelle, equally far away from Musée d’Orsay and Musée Rodin rests one of Paris’ many culinary gems, the Barthélemy cheese boutique, that carries more than 200 varieties of unique and hand crafted French cheeses.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

It is not possible to go to Paris and not step into the myriad small specialist culinary boutiques that cater to almost every whim or fancy. From cheese and wine to artisan chocolates, these boutiques are scattered over the city, making it possible to find your favourite merchant in almost every quarter of the cityscape.

Unawares of this scatterings of artisan boutiques, I had in fact, written down a few addresses of cheese boutiques that I wanted to visit in Paris. The other unawares of mine was that some of these small specialist shops in Paris tended to shut down for a mid-day break. The boutiques close at around Swedish lunch time and re-open at about Swedish after lunch fika time.

For a cheese enthusiast, this midi repos was nothing of a deterrent. I simply found a nearby café around the corner and indulged in my other enthusiast culinary staple – a local hot chocolat viennois.

Continue reading “Une petite cheese shop spectaculaire, Paris 2016” →

Musée d’Orsay: unbound by gilded frame

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Musée d'Orsay 2016

At the former restaurant of the Hôtel d’Orsay that serve traditional French cuisine.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016

There is something about old train stations that takes me to another place, another time. Stepping into the Musée d’Orsay is like stepping into a circle of old friends, in continuance of a conversation of a different time period – which, reminds me of some lines from Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris – from 2011:

“Inez: You’re in love with a fantasy.
Gil: I’m in love with you.”

“Man Ray: A man in love with a woman from a different era. I see a photograph!
Luis Buñuel: I see a film!
Gil: I see insurmountable problem!
Salvador Dalí: I see rhinoceros!” Continue reading “Musée d’Orsay: unbound by gilded frame” →