I suppose it was inevitable that Covid would catch up with me in the end – I haven’t exactly been hiding myself away at home. Fortunately, I had a mild case and in different, non-pandemic, times I’d just have dismissed it as a cold. In fact, it was mostly inconvenient and involved a surprising amount of admin.
First of all, I contacted everyone I’d seen recently, asking them to do lateral flow tests, just to be sure. Once they’d all reported negative results, I relaxed a little and applied myself to the extensive online questionnaire that I’d been asked to complete. The detailed questions about my whereabouts over the previous two weeks reminded me of some of the visa forms I’ve had to complete in order to visit totalitarian states. Then a very nice man from NHS Test and Trace phoned for a friendly chat, and seemed quite relieved when I reassured him that I fully intended to self-isolate while I was contagious. Then I set about adjusting to my new Covidian state.
I was required to stay at home for 10 days. It wasn’t like lockdown because no-one else was stuck at home and my phone wasn’t beeping every few minutes with yet another funny video for me to watch on WhatsApp – and yet it did feel like I was going back in time as I pulled out a jigsaw from the back of the cupboard and started combing Netflix for something to watch. Then I turned my attention to the matter of food. The two main problems I could see were that I’d been banned from the kitchen and I couldn’t taste anything anyway.
I was smugly confident that no one would starve because our house was full of food, but I quickly realised that it was actually full of ingredients waiting to be turned into food, and that no one other than me had any interest in doing that. My family would happily live on toast, peanut butter, pasta, baked beans and salad. This wasn’t encouraging on the catering front, but fortunately I’d lost my sense of taste anyway. Still, you need some variety in your diet and I knew that there was a poor aubergine in the fridge, wilting from neglect.
Once I was allowed back in the kitchen, I started to cook up a storm: lentil soup flavoured with ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and thyme; mushroom stroganoff with oyster and chestnut mushrooms, walnuts, spinach, mustard and soy sauce; butternut squash filo pie accompanied by baby potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary. I wondered why I was bothering when I couldn’t taste them anyway, but I think it was the memory of taste that kept me going. I almost managed to convince myself that I could taste the herbs and spices. Almost.
Happily, my days of self-isolation are behind me and so is my inability to taste anything. I’m now enjoying both the memory and the presence of taste, nearly as much as my freedom to walk through the fields on a sunny morning. And now I must go – there’s a very pathetic, pock-marked aubergine in the fridge, demanding my attention. Coconut curry, I’m thinking.
The joys of walking through a field on a sunny morning. Such naughtiness! I didn’t realise that one of the symptoms of Covid is that it turns you into Theresa May. Perish the thought – hopefully that symptom is fading too now.
Your cooking spree sounds delicious (apart from the coconut curry obviously). Glad you’ve got your taste back.
I was walking sedately on the path, unlike that wicked Theresa who was running right through the middle of the wheat crop!
Lovely sunny jigsaw. My enthusiasm for cooking comes and goes in waves, a loss of taste really seams to have fired yours up. I now need lentil soup! I’m a o glad you’ve haven’t had a really rough time of it and have managed to maintain your blog!!
Thanks, I’ve been fine. The jigsaw cupboard is now staying firmly closed, though, until it’s time for the Christmas jigsaw to appear.
Glad the symtoms were mild and you are now able to taste all the delicious food appearing on your table. Tempting as sitting down to a meal at your house sounds however, with Storm Arwen just starting to make itself felt outside, I’m imagining how wonderful it would be to be sitting at the table in your jigsaw puzzle: blue skies, blue sea, lemon trees…. and perhaps a tasty moussaka to use up that aubergine.
Wouldn’t it? It’s supposed to be a painting of Positano – can you imagine being on the Amalfi Coast sunning yourself right now?
Pleased you are better and that your sense of taste is back. The lentil soup sounds good, I’ll have to give it a try – without the coriander, though, as I can’t stand the stuff!
I absolutely love coriander, but I know that to some people it tastes of soap!
I’m still with you, Sheridan! Sometimes, I mean to comment but time passes me by….any excuse!
So sorry you’ve had Covid &, like everyone else, I’ll add that I’m pleased it was ‘mild’ & your taste has returned. I, too, loved, & envied, your enthusiastic return to cooking. All your meals excited my taste buds! 😋 Please do keep your posts coming! I always enjoy reading them…….they’re always so varied.
How lovely to hear from you, Gill. I hope that you and your family are keeping well. I think of my blog as a sort of diary and I’m hoping to look back at it in a few years’ time and be astonished at what we all lived through.