RED & RED & RED & RED . . . the predominant color of my past 4 recipes this February and each is infused with “heart” and “warmth”.
But why George, why ?
Because RED has become my reaction to “GRAY & BLUE”.
RED is the opposite of the freezing icy weather we’ve been having here in Paris and I’ve practically been using the balcony as a second refrigerator in the daytime and a freezer at night (which isn’t that bad actually).
RED is for love and friendship and it was Valentine’s day not a long time ago, but also because most of my long-time friends and neighbors have left or are leaving the neighborhood (but not to another district, but rather to other cities in other countries) and I’m feeling kind of “blue” about that.
I understand their decisions. Most are in their early or mid-30’s and are moving away to better their lives. I did the same think in my mid-20’s but very differently. I was off to a new adventure with no genuine plans, while young adults today are much more driven and organized in their ‘pursuit of happiness”. They know the “who, what, where, how and why” of changes they are undertaking and are not just "whimming it” as I did. Good for them, I should have been wiser but everything worked out great for me, right ?
RED tends to be a dominant color in foods and especially food photography (as an accent). Going through my blog, I’d say that most of my recipes are brown, red, orange, yellow, beige, white, occasionally some green and pink, rarely any grey or black and never blue nor violet so I’ll have to work on that in August because January and February and August are my quietest working months so that’s when I have the most time for experimenting with newer stuff or reinterpreting older stuff.
Getting back to the recipe. It’s a neat and tidy little food package/travelling bread or bun or roll. Like a mini-sandwich without the necessary wrapping to keep it all together and mess-less. Maybe this is a good idea, since everybody’s continuously moving away.
A pleasant and fuss-free light lunch or snack solution. The dough is reddish-orange because of the paprika powders, the tomato powder (usually used for soups) and the red wine. I chose to spread out the very spanish filling ingredients using 2/3 throughout the dough so it wouldn’t be bland and 1/3 in the center for a more vibrant & almost beating surprise “heart”.
7 is also an interesting number here because if you divide a larger circle into tight-fitting smaller circles of equal size, you need not 6 nor 8 but 7 for a perfect fit (as seen in the photo).
I like this idea and I’m working on a series of little colorful savory and maybe one sweet travel buns or rolls. Don’t be surprised when you discover a green version in spring, a black version in summer, a brown version in fall and maybe a blue-purple-violet version too next winter (no white, yellow nor beige because that’s just like regular bread, you know) . . . :)
