Tuesday, July 17, 2018
7月17日(火曜日)2018
「海の日」の昨日、そして今日もうだるような暑さです。「うだるような暑さ」とは頭が茹で上がるような猛烈な暑さという意味。昨日の多賀町の気温は36℃でした。そんな中、昨日は江戸時代からの庄屋さんの民家「一圓屋敷」の 開発プロジェクトの仕事でY.Eさんと朝からうちで話し合い、午後はお勧め散歩コースを写真を撮りながら歩きました。出かける前、Y.E.さんに原案を書いてもらっている間、私は同じメンバーのM.Yさんからバジルを頂いたのでお昼にパスタ料理を作りました。茹でたパスタをオリーブ油とガーリックで混ぜ塩コショーし、そこへ香りのいいバジルと熟したトマトを刻んで合わせるだけの簡単レシピですが、これがバテ気味の真夏のお勧めメニューなのです。40年ほど前にイタリアで地元のガイドさんに教えてもらったものですが、近くの農園で新鮮なバジルと美味しいトマトが大量に手に入ったので夏になるとボストンで頻繁に作って家族で食べていました。ポイントはトマトは皮を剥いて種を取って少し絞って混ぜること。我が家は皆、驚く程の食欲で平らげてしまいます。Yesterday was a national holiday, "Marine Day". It was sweltering hot as it is today. The temperature in Taga yesterday was 36℃(96.8°F). In such severe weather, Ms. Y.E and I got together in my house to discuss a development project of an old Japanese house called Ichen Yashiki which used to be the village headman's house since Edo period. While she was writing our original idea for the flyer, I made our lunch using fresh basil leaves which Mr. M.Y who is also a member of the project gave to me the day before yesterday. The recipe is quite simple. First, while you are cutting fresh basil and tomatoes, you boil pasta and mix with olive oil and minced garlic. Then mix all of them with salt and pepper. The special note of this recipe is that you peel the skin of the tomatoes and take off the seeds. Before mixing them, it is best to squeeze the tomatoes to make the dish not be so wet. If you are little bit tired of the summer heat, I recommend this. I learned this recipe from a guide when I went to Italy about 40 years ago and when I was in Boston, I could get fresh basil and sweet tomatoes at the farm near my house, so I often made this dish for my family. All of us like this pasta dish very much and every time we eat it with a big appetite.