Tag: Rice

Safranal molecule (C3H10O) represented in a honeycomb kind of figure, overlaid with a botanical drawing of Saffron (Crocus Sativus), featuring red stigmas and styles (the threads of saffron), purple petals, green skinny leaves, and the corn that is part of the root system.

“Safranal” & Other Poems by Lora Berg

aromatica poetica October 11, 2023

Safranal We happened on a nest of Crocus Sativus, petal, stigma, style, strands of saffron lolling over lilac rims, and slid our hands close to the earth to pluck them, three per bloom. Evocations: * Jeweled rice of Persia * Paella in Andalucia * Amish golden broth * Under the counter, in the old Tunis souk * High up, in Mama’s kitchen cabinet * Curled in Grandpa’s crystal pill box * bittersweet notes reaching back in time * to Minoa, …

Original acrylic painting titled “Mariammachi’s fish” (8”x12”) by Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad.

Two Poems of Wizardry and Cookery by Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad

aromatica poetica May 14, 2020

In the wizard’s lair Mariammachi rose with the sun – my Nana’s trusted right hand woman she cooked for a grateful household an enchantress with a culinary wand she could turn anything – the humble tapioca, the nondescript okra into Michelin star feasts. She would seat six year old me on the black volcanic rock of Nana’s hundred year old kitchen and I would study with wonder the paste of ash and water she scrubbed the clay pots with gutting …