Tangerine、mandarin、clementine.
我想它們字義或多或少有點差別，也許是關於品種或產地，然而，沒有一個字能牽思引念。於我而言，Tangerine是橙色柔和一點的顏色；Mandarin是我以往常常為着龍蝦意粉而去的酒店，直至兩年前他們把轉烹煮方法改了，我也沒有再去吃；Clementine是Kate Winslet在《無痛失戀》裡的角色名字。
是mikan，蜜柑，這才是在外形小而扁的夏收柑橘。
「我可以見見你嗎？」你偶爾給我發這樣的一個短訊，然後不出半小時，便拿着些吃的出現在我面前。有時你會拿着新鮮出爐的蛋撻，在悶熱炎夏時，你多數會拿着滴着水珠的冰茶。天冷時，你會給我熱可可和裝在啡色牛皮紙袋裡的烤栗子。都是你親自送我的午後茶點。
這次你沒那麼任性，我們約好了時間在公園見面。前一晚你看到我給自己預備的午餐盒，便嚷着想吃。我給你帶上自己的午餐盒，你拿着香料烤雞墨西哥捲、熱的栗子鮮奶咖啡和凍的抹茶鮮奶。
「我給你買了抹茶鮮奶，之後卻看到這栗子咖啡，我猜你會喜歡。」要拿着這麼多吃的坐車，我想也好不容易。
我們在長椅上坐下來，在我們之間卻有把惱人的扶手。我在袋裡拿出熱了的飯盒，估摸份量可能少了點，還有一個保溫瓶，裡面暖着我剛給你泡的日本綠茶。午餐盒有我昨晚做的大根燉牛腩、蔬菜及白飯。看着你吃東西讓人很愉快，你總是一臉滿足，好享受嘴裡的食物，令那些餸菜似乎比實際上還要好吃。
「好吃嗎？」
「嗯。」
我想我沒遇過比你嘴饞的人兒。
我靠往你坐近一點，把左手擱在你大腿上。墨西哥捲熱得直冒煙，加上溶化了的芝士和醬汁，原本方便的食物，也得慢慢地吃，你吃光了午餐盒，我還在咬着那捲包。你呷了口茶，雙手裹着我擱在你大腿上的手。水果在袋裡，我想給你拿，便把餘下的墨西哥捲都塞進口裡，好騰出手來 – 太大的一口了，差點嗆着。
是當造的蜜柑，香甜多汁。
「你說過喜歡吃蜜柑，我給你剝。」
「你可以一隻手剝柑子嗎？」
「怎樣呢？」
你一手拿着蜜柑，一手還拖着我，着我在柑子的頂部開始剝。我以右拇指輕掐，細薄的果皮隨之褪開。你轉着蜜柑，我以指頭往裡推，一切毫不費力，不像兩個人的工夫，而是一個人在剝柑子。
這蜜柑果肉的顔是猶如海傍的日出，溫暖而明亮，讓我想起你的笑容。
我想白色的細皮也拿掉，你說你不介意吃的。你仍舊拿着去了皮的蜜柑，我剝了一瓣送到你嘴裡，我自己也吃一瓣。
「好甜。」你眉開眼笑的說着，那讓我生愛的笑容。
某日炎夏午後，你特意給我送來一杯凍伯爵茶，紙杯滴着的水珠不比你臉上的汗珠少。你把茶遞給我，手指劃過我的手指。故意的，我猜想。「我在飲料店買茶喝，想你或許也想喝吧。」你試着解釋怎樣忽爾出現了。我們聊了聊，便送你離開。
電梯久久沒來，我回頭，看見了你，就在大廈玻璃窗外。你揮揮手，溫暖的笑着。
「為着這張笑臉，我甚麼都可以做啊。」腦裡當時閃過如此的一句話。
數不清多少次，我回頭看到你，你總回我一個溫暖的笑容。你知道嗎，你笑的時候，右邊眼角與鼻樑比左邊的多一道皺紋。我總希望沒有人發現這件小事，只得我一個知道。而往往是這些小事和來不及記着的片段，最往我的心坎裡鑽。
蜜柑、夏日午後、溫暖笑容、你 – 這才是這水果在我字典裡的詮釋。
Tangerine, mandarin, clementine.
I believe each of them is slightly different, perhaps in terms of the fruit origin or species, but none of them resonates. Tangerine, to me, is a colour more mellow than orange; mandarin reminds me of the lobster linguine I used to enjoy at that hotel before they changed the recipe two summers ago, clementine is the name of Kate Winslet’s role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
It is mikan that refers to that round little citrus fruit in orange colour harvested in summer.
“Can I see you for a bit?” You shot me this message from time to time, and, minutes later, showed up with a freshly-baked egg tart or, most of the time in hot humid summer days, perspiring iced tea in your hands. In wintertime, I’d get a cup of hot cocoa and roasted chestnuts in a brown parchment bag. My hand-delivered afternoon treats.
You were less random this time. We planned to meet at the park after you saw what I had prepared my lunch box the night before and asked if you could have it. So,I brought you my lunchbox. You showed up with a cajun chicken wrap, a hot chestnut latte and an iced matcha latte.
“I bought you the matcha latte but then I saw this chestnut drink and thought you may like it.” I had no idea how you could get on a minivan with your hands full of food.
We sat on a bench where there was an annoying arm rest between us. I took my lunchbox out, which I figured may be too small for your appetite, and a tumbler filled with warm sencha I brewed earlier. It was steamed rice, veggies and braised beef brisket with daikon that I made. Watching you eat was a joy. You always looked so content and enjoying the food so much that you made the food seem more delicious than it actually was.
“Good?”
“Yep.”
Guess I had never met someone who loved eating as much as you do.
I moved closer to you and rested my left hand on your lap. The wrap was piping hot, and the melted cheese and sauce in it made the supposedly easy-to-eat food quite impossible to be finished fast. I was still eating while you finished the lunchbox. After a sip of tea, you wrapped my hand in yours. To free my hand to grab the fruit from the bottom of my bag, I stuffed the remaining bit of the chicken wrap into my mouth – too big a bite to chew on that I almost choked on it.
It was a mikan in season. Sweet and juicy.
“You told me you like mikan. Let me peel it for you.”
“Can you peel it with one hand?”
“How?”
You took the fruit and told me to peel it from the bottom. Gently nipping in the indented top with my right thumb, the delicate skin started to tear apart. You rotated the mikan while I peeled. It was easier than I imagined. How you turned the mikan and I pushed the finger through made the peeling look so effortless, like it was handled by one single person, not two.
The colour of the citrus flesh was like a summer dawn by the sea; warm and vibrant, and it reminded me of your smile.
I tried to get rid of the pith for you but you said you didn’t mind eating it. The peeled mikan was still in your hand. I took a wedge and put it in your mouth. I put one in mine too.
“Sweet.” You said with that bright smile I adored so much.
In one beautiful afternoon filled with summer heat, you came all the way to give me an iced earl grey tea. The paper cup was perspiring as heavily as your face. When you passed me the beverage your fingers lingered across mine, intentionally I figured. “I was grabbing a drink at the tea shop and thought you may want one too.” You tried to explain your unplanned presence. We had a little chat before I saw you off.
It took unusually long for the elevator to come. I turned around and saw you there, still there behind the glass. You waved at me with a big smile.
“I would do anything for this smiley face.” This line flashed in my head.
So many times when I turned around and saw you, you always returned me with this warm smile. You know, when you smile, there was one more wrinkle around your right eye corner and nose bridge than the left side. I always hoped I’m the only one who spotted this little thing. And it is always these little things, episodes of fleeting moments that seep into my heart.
Mikan, summer afternoon, warm smile, you – the definition of the citrus fruit in my dictionary.
蜜柑接骨木花果凍
材料：
日本蜜柑 3-4 個
接骨木花果：
熱水 ½ 杯
接骨木花糖漿 ½ 杯
魚膠粉 1.5 湯匙
白糖 適量
蜜柑果凍：
熱水 1 湯匙
蜜柑果汁 ½ 杯
魚膠粉 3/4 茶匙
白糖 適量
做法:
- 一個蜜柑剝皮，取出一瓣，在硬梗上剪開一道小缺口，輕輕剝去薄衣，取出果肉備用。重覆直至完成餘下的。
- 其餘蜜柑切半榨汁，榨取 ½ 杯果汁，以篩子過濾備用。
- 不同品牌的接骨木花糖漿糖度各異，可先試味，看看是需要加糖。在熱水加入魚膠粉及白糖（如需要），拌勻至魚膠粉溶解。
- 將魚膠粉溶液加入接骨木花糖漿，拌勻，放涼後後倒入兩個杯子。
- 放進雪櫃冷藏5小時至凝固，或放至過夜。
- 重覆步驟3-5製作蜜柑果凍，果汁溶液倒進一個淺口器皿。
- 以叉子壓碎凝固了的蜜柑果凍，放上接骨木花果凍。
- 把蜜柑果肉放在果凍上即可。
Mikan and Elderflower Jelly
Ingredients:
Japanese mikan 3-4 pcs
For elderflower jelly:
Hot water ½ cup
Elderflower cordial ½ cup
Gelatin powder 1.5 tablespoon
Sugar To taste
For mikan jelly:
Hot water 1 tablespoon
Mikan juice ½ cup
Gelatin powder 3/4 teaspoon
Sugar To taste
Steps:
- Peel a mikan. Take a segment out and snip an opening along the hard bit. Gently peel off the membrane. Repeat with the remaining segments.
- Half and juice the remaining mikans until you get ½ cup of mikan juice. Pour it through a sieve and set aside.
- Sweetness of elderflower cordials varies from brand to brand. Taste it to see if sugar is needed. Add gelatin and sugar, if needed, to hot water. Stir till the powder melts.
- Add the gelatin water to the cordial, stir well. Pour it into 2 glasses once the liquid cools down.
- Put it into the fridge and set for 5 hours or overnight.
- Repeat step 3-5 for mikan jelly. Pour the liquid into one shallow container instead.
- Crush the set mikan jelly with a fork, and lay it on the elderflower jelly
- Top the jelly with peeled mikan segments. Ready to serve.
Jo Liu
It’s raining outside, crisp and bleak. Three chubby sparrows took shelter on my balcony and I gave them the baguette bits left on my breakfast plate but they flew away. I stayed in, played Damien Rice on vinyl and made apple crumble. Repeat.
Instagram: foodialoguehk
