Kazunoko wasabi, a Japanese dish of herring roe with wasabi, a kind of horseradish often used an an accompaniment to raw fish. Photographs of strips of boiled herring crossed with a line of rice pudding, dabbed with knobs of butter, and accompanied by four helpings of thick, fresh cream were curiously difficult to find.
Part 1 of 2
FIRST a thick strip of fish was laid right across each saucer; an equal strip of cold rice pudding met it transversely, forming a cross-shaped figure that left four spaces in the angles. Thick cream was poured into these spaces, and the solid portion was decorated with tiny balls of butter, one rather larger in the middle, and two smaller on each of the rays. A reserve of fish and cream was to be at hand to replenish the portions most quickly exhausted.
In the middle of the sitting-room we placed a small, rather low, round table; and four stools were ranged round for the bigger pussies. As the hour for the feast drew near, much was the wondering as to how the guests would behave. They were to sit on the stools with their fore-paws on the edge of the tablecloth. We decided not to have flowers, because it would have overcrowded the space, as the two kittens were to be allowed to sit on the table.
Précis
One day, Gertrude Jekyll threw a party with a difference. Her nine-year-old niece was due to go home after a visit, so Gertrude suggested that she invite all her aunt’s cats for tea. There was boiled herring, rice pudding and cream, and a little stool for each cat; but Gertrude found herself wondering just how they would react. (58 / 60 words)
Part Two
A cat tucks into more familiar fare at a cat sanctuary in St Paul, Malta. Gertrude Jekyll is of course best known as a pioneer of popular gardening books on garden design; she had received training in fine art, and approached her gardens and her tea-parties with an artist’s eye. She let her niece issue invitations to the feline guests, but arranged the platters herself and could not resist writing out the menu in a graceful hand. A spoonful of cold rice pudding drawn across a boiled herring sounds so much better as Les Filets de Hareng à la Minette [i.e. kitten-style] avec les Tranches de Riz en Traverse.
AT last the hour came, and meanwhile the excitement had grown intense. Five grown-ups were present, all as keenly interested as the little girl. The pussies were brought and placed on their stools, and the kittens, Chloe and Brindle, were put up to their saucers upon the table. To our great delight they all took in the situation at once; there was only a little hesitation on Maggie’s part; she thought it was not manners to put her paws on the tablecloth but this was soon overcome, and they all set to work as if they were quite accustomed to tea-parties and knew that nice behaviour was expected.
It was good to watch the pleasure of my little niece. I had expected that she would rush about and scream with delight, but she stood perfectly silent and still, with hands half raised, mouth a little open, and big eager eyes drinking in the scene, as if she thought it would vanish if she made a movement.
Précis
The party went surprisingly well: only one of the cats seemed at all doubtful. What surprised Gertrude most, however, was the reaction of her niece. She had expected her to be rather over-excited, but instead she was utterly enchanted, watching the cats tuck into their fish as if she were afraid that one false move would break the spell. (59 / 60 words)
