You cannot see the forest for the trees.
Or as John Heywood wrote in his book of proverbs in 1546, “Ye can not see the wood [italics are mine] for trees.” Even then, and probably long before, it was easier to delight in the brush strokes than to step back and view the whole picture.
Sometimes, though, the trees are awfully enticing. A sharply etched leaf here, richly patterned bark there, gnarled roots as ancient as time itself. Meandering footpaths dappled with sunlight diverge from the main road. “Choose me,” each one clamors. “Follow my lead.”
So I’ve been feeling, lately, that I’ve lost my way. This blog has pulled me in a hundred different directions, almost all of them delicious. Lately I’ve been conversing with a Stockholm cheesemonger, a gold medalist, asking about spices and cheese. Questions have flown across the Atlantic to a French chasseur de poivres, a man obsessed with finding the rarest, most exquisitely fresh peppercorns. Should I go to India next year, to the south of France, or back to Spain for the first time in a long time? Mortars and pestles are stacking up in my office and I’m still obsessing about the one that got away in London. What’s the real provenance of the resinous green Sichuan peppercorns I recently picked up in San Francisco? I’ve read a dozen cookbooks in the last few months but haven’t had a moment to actually cook from any of them.
And all the while there are things I intended to do that I haven’t done. There’s a spice book simmering on the back burner. I need to organize the recipes, design the perfect pantry, tell you about the amazing shops and spice tools I’ve discovered. Get back to plumbing the mysteries of pepper, cinnamon, and all the other spices we use everyday. Maybe even reveal a few more of Claire’s escapades.
So I’m going to slow down for the next couple of months. Try to figure out where SpiceLines is going and what I want to do with it. Devise a strategy, make a game plan. A new outlook might lead to a new look.
And then I’ll be back in January. Can’t wait…
Editor’s note: Spicelines is going on vacation for two months. But we’ll be publishing new or archived material periodically, so do check back often.