simple breakfast, with some low-key spice, and Messiaen

There were several internationally-sourced ‘spicy’ elements, broadly understood, in this breakfast, including Indian black pepper, a heatless Cornel habañero, peppery Connecticut nasturtium leaves, and a Basque piment powder.

Otherwise it was mostly bacon and eggs and toast.

  • There were six pastured chicken eggs from John Stoltzfoos’ Millport Dairy Farm stall in the Union Square Greenmarket, fried sunny side up; Millport Dairy thick bacon, toasts from two different sturdy breads, a multigrain baguette (unbleached wheat flour, whole wheat dark rye, white starter, honey, sugar grain mix {millet, sunflower, coarse rye, oats, flax seed, sesame) from She Wolf Bakery, and a loaf of Balthazar Bakery sourdough rye from Schaller & Weber; stems of some baby French Leeks from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm; Maldon Salt, freshly-ground Tellicherrry pepper, pinches of a homemade French Basque piment d’Espellate purchased in a small town north of Baie-Comeau, Quebec 3 and a half years ago from the producer’s daughter; more of the same mix of herbs assembled for the dinner of two days before , and for the tomato salad last night as well (a combination of peppermint, bush basil, and oregano from Norwich Meadows Farm, summer savory and thyme from Stokes Farm, fennel frond from Alewife Farm, and dill flowers from Eckerton Hill Farm); a little Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, for the toasts that were too rigid for dipping into the egg yolks; and micro nasturtium leaves from Two Guys from Woodbridge
  • the music, which we listened to while we sat at the breakfast room window open to the garden, was ‘Olivier Messiaen: Complete Bird Music For Piano Solo’, performed by  Carl-Axel Dominique, in 3 CD discs (3 hours, 29 minutes)