I will never forget the first time I had tortellini with garlic cream sauce. It was last summer when my family and I where camping in Crescent City. We had just come back from a long, fun day at the beach.
We were all ready to have a warm and filling dinner. My mom asked if we wanted some tortellini with garlic cream sauce. Even though I didn't know what that was I said yes just because I was so hungry. While my mom was making dinner at the camp stove and I was sitting by the campfire I asked her what the sauce tasted like. She promised I would love it then described how she prepared this meal when she was single and living alone. That comment made me a bit worried since I had heard stories about how she virtually lived on macaroni and cheese from a box during that time in her life.
Dinner was finally served. My plate had tri-colored spinach and cheese tortellini with a velvety white sauce gently oozing over the top. The smell alone was to die for. Then my mom grated fresh parmesan cheese over the top. I watched the cheese melt into the sauce as I took a deep breath in, smelling the fresh garlic. I could hardly wait to take a bite.
My first bite was heavenly. I'll never forget it. The tortellini itself was cooked perfectly, slightly firm and dense with just the right ratio of spinach to cheese inside. The real treat was the garlic cream sauce. Warm and smooth with tiny bits of minced garlic and fresh pepper. Keep in mind that it was served at the campfire surrounded by Redwoods. No finer dining to be found.
The main dish was a treasure in itself, but the side dishes are also worth mentioning. What seemed to be ordinary French bread was drizzled in light extra virgin olive oil and generously seasoned with a blend of oregano, garlic and sea salt, then delicately wrapped in foil and placed over the open fire to brown. Once off the fire, more of that fresh parmesan was added. A simple salad of field greens tossed with cucumber and roasted almonds in a creamy caesar dressing was just the ticket to keep things light.
I've tasted variations of this delicious main dish and each time I'm more and more in love with it.
You used great describing words throughout the piece and it made my mouth water! you really painted a great picture in my head! The only somewhat cool comment i could find is that you led on the story a little bit with all your different paragraphs describing the 1 dinner plate but overall it was a good piece!
ReplyDeleteOoh yum I really wanna try that, it sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteI liked the bit where you talked about your apprehension over the meal after having heard your mom had lived on macaroni and cheese for a time. It made me chuckle a bit. Your description of the appearance of the food in paragraph three was really well executed, and your fifth paragraph was downright delicious.
Paragraph four was RIGHT ON THE VERGE of being awesome, but it contained a few cliches, and I wish you would have tried to describe flavor a bit more than just the ingredients.
Focusing on cliches... "my first bite was heavenly" and "I'll never forget it" are both cliche. Either take them out, or replace them with something more original. Like instead of "heavenly," perhaps use a simile to liken the divine flavor to an amazing feeling you've had or sound you've heard.
One last thing, I feel like you should have gone back and touched on your "macaroni apprehension" in the last paragraph; otherwise feeling nervous about the meal could be omitted.
Great food review.
ReplyDeleteI loved that you gave us background information on the restraunt.
You could of added more detail but oh well.
You used alot of describing words that paint a picture in your head. The description is very vivid and strong the only thing is you seem to keep dragging on the one dish and maybe to help this add a little more detail on the others so its a little more balanced. Like main meal and others 50&50. Just balance out but overall this was a really good piece i liked it.
ReplyDeleteWarm: Ver organized with the story. also great detail with showing. for example in paragraph 1
ReplyDeletecool:More detail to the other people so the story is more balnced.