Frederick Livingston
Tamarind BBQ Sauce
Maybe wash potatoes first
there’s still tamarind in the pantry
you’ve felt this way before, remember:
- honey
- paprika
- salt, to taste
nothing goes to waste
not a half-used can of tomato paste
not love
(most famous among secret ingredients)
- Tickle kettle to song
- summon slumbering oven
- ease seeds from stringy flesh
with scalding water
cayenne dash
layering heat
some roots are worth roasting slowly
coaxing sweetness
from bitter earth
Excise unsightly potato eyes
from peel
you’ll feel this way tomorrow still
cooking is looking
for the first time
again and again at
- tongue-dance
- weight
- brightness
- and spice
spoon never stepping in the same sauce
twice
Some mistakes are worth making:
too-sour tamarind
softens bitter cinnamon
salt stokes pepper embers
harmonize with honey
you cannot pick just one
and call it love
Oh! brussels sprouts
languishing in the crisper
aching for language in the crisp air
on the park bench where your lips
didn’t taste hers
turn down
sauce
to simmer
loss arises
from something
worth having
- Halve the sprouts
- lay them out
- something else
to think about, for now
dip in batter
or leave bare
no need
to set a timer
you’ll smell when they’re tender
Aromatic alchemy: change is in the air
your only error
was ever thinking
otherwise
- feast with your eyes
- eat with your fingers
- lick lingering flavors
like the chickens
that tore your garden apart
your
- glowing
- growing
- beating
heart
