Tuesday 11 September 2012

Pie Taster


The Milk Marketing Board cook book did what it said on the tin. If it could work butter, milk or cream into anything it would. I have only ever tried to make a steak pie from first principles once in my life. The evening turned out to be so bad that I never bothered again.
I was living in a horrible flat in Winchester with Lynne. My job had come to an end so I was stuck home alone during that day. I had been given the MMB cook book for Christmas. With nothing better to do I decided to have a crack at making a steak pie. It was not great to be honest. The dish was too big for the amount of filling I had, it only went halfway up. The crust was dense and hard.
We ate at a table in the middle of our room. White walls stained with mould and running with condensation.  Lynne had a go at her bit of pie when she got back from college. She did not seem keen.
I was lying on the bed reading the NME. I remember clearly there was a huge article on the band Therapy? They were in America and we photographed throwing shapes in the sunshine. I seemed a million miles from our damp room.
‘We need to talk; I think we should split up.’
I guessed that this might be coming. She had been quietly laying the ground for some time. I starred at the paper, like a school kid struggling for the answer. She said we were a great team, but did not love me. She had tried to tell me this before, encouraging me to stay in France that summer. But I closed my ears. Now she told me straight, in that shitty flat in Winchester, in January.
There was nowhere to go, no spare room. It was a long night. I have never fancied making a pie again.

No comments:

Post a Comment