An Afternoon of Roasted Pork and Mama Tukata

One lazy afternoon Tukata was sashaying around her kitchen, her hands full of fresh herbs and ingredients. The roast pork was just about done and she had plans for it. I was invited over to come grab some pictures of it for her upcoming cook book, and when Tukata Bird invites you to her house you never say no. Food and family is what you'll find, and it'll be perfect.

The plate she made was a roast belly that she had rubbed some spices into, and a cucumber and green onion salad sprinkled with coriander, and some rice on the side. She used a homemade broth to make a savory sauce and sprinkled some spices and things into it, and the smells coming from that particular pot were semi overwhelming and a bit heady. It was magnificent.

Though at first it sounds simple, and looks like a simple dish, it's the flavours that get you. Unexpected tangy sweetness explodes in your mouth on the first bite, coupled with the freshness of the coriander, the crunchiness of the cucumber, and finally the blast of, well the only way I can describe it is "zingy-ness", of the onion. All of the senses and tastes in your mouth makes for an experience that you sort of just quietly sit and enjoy. The rice feels homey and then that sauce mixed with her spices comes round and kicks you out the front door where you sort of leave in a stupor, completely overcome with feelings of longing you never knew you had for a roasted pork belly.

I left a happy girl that day.