Aged, not Age-d...

 

Pictured, my recently acquired Peterson pipe perched atop a plug of Cornell & Diehl's Black Frigate tobacco. To the left of it, the lovely Blue Funnel Line dice set that I bought this year from Rosie's Antiques in Bishop's Castle, Shrophire on our last stay there; and to the right the lovely teapot that the boys bought me as a gift a while ago, which has only so far brewed a very fine pot of Darjeeling. I have also recently ordered a blacksmith-crafted Santoku kitchen knife from Nakamura's workshop in Japan, as my current pair of knives are sadly now very tired and in need of retirement. I look forward to being able to thinly slice liver again for our signature recipe of liver, garlic and parsley, the erstwhile Liver Provençale that we have been cooking for over four decades now. I think that what I'm trying to say is that flavour matters: the Black Frigate tobacco smells like an old leather sofa and its tastes are complex and informed by the rum in which it is matured. Darjeeling tea is subtle and complex in equal order when brewed properly, and our liver recipe is packed with flavours and aromas as deep and complex as the last two: definitely no blandness here. As to the dice set, the colour of the poker dice and the patina on their leather dice cup speak equally of the maturity and qualities of the rest: time, once again, tells a story, imbuing apparently simple things with history and depth. Enjoy life while you still can...