Living Wittily

Honey from the lion's belly.......?

Honey is one of my favourite foods. There are those who are connoiseurs, who distinguish flavours, regions, species of bee, thickness and texture. And though i wouldn't call myself a connoiseur quite, I do know what I like. And I like honey - most kinds. I haven't tasted one yet that I don't like. I've never left a jar unfinished. Whether it's the runny honey that can make eating toast a form of extreme risk sport if you wear a shirt and tie, or the solid light brown stuff that bends the knife as you hack it out and spread it on the scone, or the honey on the comb which gives you hoeny in the raw, with some of the wax, I love them all. Greek Mountain honey that has a tang of liquorice; acacia honey that requires pouring over hot pancakes; Australian eucalyptus which unmistakably conjures images of koala bears; and Scottish Heather honey, none of your blended cheap stuff, the real rich natural coloured honey that was (I'm sure) in the mind of the biblical writers who dreamed of a land flowing with it, and called it the promised land.

Obviously I love sweetness. Syrup and honey - yes and condensed milk, maple syrup, Scottish tablet.  I don't just have a sweet tooth, I have a mouth full of them. Maybe because I grew up in a home where my mother baked often, and there was always a Tate and Lyle syrup tin in the house. Those who remember the green and gold tin with the black print, and the small oval panel with a picture of a dead lion, and underneath the biblical riddle, 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness', will now share in a moment's nostalgia.

The connection between syrup and honey, between Greenock (the town where sugar was a major product in Scotland's recent industrial story) and Timnah (the village where Samson killed a lion and later found bees making a hive in the carcass), is the relation of sweetness to power. The riddle Samson told was a taunt to the Philistines; the sugar industry in this country was founded on slavery across the Atlantic. Makes it interesting that in ancient times when refined honey was greatly valued, it could be used as a form of diplomatic gift. The connections between honey and politics, between the sweetness of power and the bitterness of oppression, isn't as fanciful as it first sounds.

Makes it interesting that Doug Gay entitles the lecture he will give in Paisley "Honey from the Lion's Belly.' The biblical allusion is impossible to ignore - but what does it mean? Come along and spend the evening with Doug, and take time to explore together the implications of nationalism as a feature of contemporary Scottish life that could do with some serious theological reflection. Honey from the lion's belly is an allusion that could point discussion in several directions. The reason we've invited Doug to come is to enable us to think carefully and responsibly, about nationalism and national identity, about cultural distinctives and theological perspectives, and to do this from a Christian standpoint. Doug is a practical theologian, and that means he is committed to connecting theology with our lived experience, in our nation and communities. If you are interested and free, it'll be a good night, and an important discussion. Details are on the Scottish Baptist College blog - click on the name on my sidebar of blogs I regularly visit!

Dr Who and Chocolate Gu

I don't usually watch Dr Who, but since our Christmas meal was around our usual tea-time and I needed an interlude between Main Course (which I cooked) and Dessert, I joined the hardened fans in our family and watched the Christmas Special. Glad I was using it more as a mere background context during which to savour and relish and generally appreciate the warm gooey Gu chocolate souffle accompanied by luxury custard, which was entertainmemnt enough and more. In contrast to the rich, life affirming inner glow created by this well conceived coincidence of ingredients, warm soft chocolate and custard you stand a spoon in, the Dr Who episode was an ill conceived coincidence of cliches that did little to divert my attention from the main feature of my early evening, the aforementioned dessert.

Knowing the nutritional information on both the pudding and the custard it would be a bit rich to claim that the dessert did my heart good in any literal, physiological sense. But in the figurative and emotional well-being sense, it did indeed do my heart good; it was deeply comforting, therapeutically life enhancing, and spiritually formative - cos I  now know what it would be wrong to have too much of, and I'm off to knock off twice the number of calories consumed in said dessert on the exercise bike - Oh but it's worth it, every laborious minute sat on the cycle seat..............it is, indeed, worth it!

Tradition and Sausage Rolls

Every family has its traditions, and Christmas is one of the best times to have them. One of ours is about home made sausage rolls for our Christmas Eve savoury supper around midnight. Now sausage rolls can represent the lower end of the gastronomic food chain. We've all been at those functions where you're not sure if it's wise to actually eat the grey paste encountered under a tube of glutty pastry. Or we may even have bought those solid little wodges of amorphous protein wrapped in a blanket of flaky but elasticated dough, purchased in bulk from the various supermarkets, and wondered afterwards if these sad objects closely or remotely resemble what any of us envisages by the term sausage roll. Now to avoid ambiguity, I don't mean a sausage ( flat or round or link) in a roll / bap - a kind of burger or hot dog kind of thing. No. Not that.

I mean a sausage roll, real sausage meat, mixed with bacon, herbs, mustard, Worcester sauce and spices, wrapped in puff pastry, cut into medallions and brushed with egg-yolk, and cooked for 45 minutes in the oven until the house is pervaded by the smell of cooked bacon, mustard and herbs de provencale, and the inhabitants are queueing up at the kitchen waiting for the oven beeper to beep. Ours is one of the few places I know where serving sausage rolls requires mild forms of crowd control!

In keeping with tradition - I'm away to make the sausage rolls, which we'll cook later. And if we can work the technology, I'll even post a picture of what REAL sausage rolls look like. Can't show you what they taste like though - typepad doesn't do smells yet.

More seriously, and equally joyfully, a very happy Christmas to all those who make a habit of coming past this blog, and to those who happen by over Christmas. May you know the peace of God, the love of Christ and the renewing life of the Holy Spirit. And may our world be touched again by the Advent God who comes to us as Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Emmanuel - God with us.