I recently tried making minestrone for the first time – and really enjoyed it, because all the ingredients are so pleasant for the eyes and easy to handle. While soaking in water the mix of a dozen different dried peas and beans reminded me of pebbles on a summery beach – which is not bad on a grey winter’s day – and pealing and chopping carrots, turnips, garlic, onions etc. added the pleasure of handling fresh and crisp vegetables.

 Intuitively I crunched two small red peppers and a spoonful herbes de Provence.

You can imagine that my expectations were high after this ouverture in the kitchen and they did not get smaller when I served it with grated Conté cheese sprinkled over.

After the first couple of spoonfuls the crisis set in. It tasted of absolutely nothing.

 ”Waterish” was one of the words that were exchanged over the dining table. I repeated this word when explaining my disappointment to my Italian colleagues the next day and asked them how they made minestrone. Being Italian they should know, I thought.

 One said that his late mother was an expert in the field, but when still staying at home at this family he did not like vegetables at all and could not care less about a recipe for minestrone.

 When entering my office the following day I found to my great surprise a bowl filled to the rim with minestone. Another of my colleagues and his family had had that on the menu the evening before and thought that this would be the best way to make me know what their recipe was about.

 I served it when coming home in the evening, added a little olive oil on top, as my colleague had recommended, and sprinkled with a little grated cheese. Although it did not taste of much either it was less “waterish” than mine and appeared creamier in consistence.

 My colleague now has the problem of reconstructing the recipe they use at home, because for a while the responsibility of making minestrone has been passed on to their au pair! So now the minestrone crisis has spread to his home as well, but together we will get out of it and serve tastier and creamier minestrone in the future – at least, that’s what I hope!

Now that we have said “Goodbye” and “See you next year!” to Santa Claus and the Holidays formally end with Epiphany today it is a good time to start this year’s blog by wishing you all a very interesting and personally creative 2009.