Spiral Bound Journal

American Aspic

The dull knock of ceramic on wood prompted Marcus to peer up from the tripod he was repositioning. He spotted a platter laden with deep brown slices. It joined a smaller plate of toast points and a teacup of whole grain mustard. Part of him wished that Angie had put a tablecloth down first, but the finish of the tabletop was scuff-free enough that it would look good on camera even without edits.

"Should I go ahead and start filming the B roll?" he asked.

"Sure," Angie called out from the kitchen. "I have to go grab all my camera stuff, so you should be good to film for a little while."

With that, Angie hustled out of the kitchen and headed for her studio space. Marcus knew that she'd spend time changing her outfit and touching up her makeup before getting her camera gear. He figured this would give him enough time to shoot a few different configurations of the daube glace sitting on the table. Peering at the soft boxes set up on either side of the dining table, he turned on his camera and started recording.

Marcus was in the middle of his final lighting combination when he heard distant pitter patter behind him. Before he could turn around, Kandinsky leaped into the frame and began to sniff all the food.

"Oh, cat," Marcus muttered before shuffling over to grab the deviant feline.

Marcus brought Kandinsky over to where the camera and tripod were positioned before setting him down. Marcus turned off the camera and spotted the cat going back to the table. This time, he managed to thwart Kandinsky's leap. Holding the cat, he turned around and spotted Angie snickering at the two of them.

"Why do I suspect we're both going to have long shoots?" she asked.

"If it didn't have onions and garlic, I'd consider letting him have a bite," Marcus muttered. "if he keeps this up, I might put him in the bedroom."

"Hmm...maybe we should, anyway."

"You know I don't like doing that to him."

Angie fought to not roll her eyes. "I know, but it's either that or take five hours to film at most 15 minutes that are in the script."

"I suppose. Let's just hope he doesn't whine so loud we have to make major audio edits."

With that, Marcus scooped up Kandinsky and ushered him to the bedroom.

The two of them took turns filming in the kitchen and dining area. While they were filming separate videos for their own channels, there was significant crossover. Angie filmed a quick segment of dialogue regarding the common settings for daube glace for Marcus' video before filming her own extended monologue about the prep work and presentation variations. After they filmed their separate footage, they positioned their cameras a little further back to show both of them at the dining table. Angie sat down first as Marcus began the recording for both cameras. When he joined her, he waited a moment before clapping.

"Well," he began, "shall we?"

Angie nodded at her cue. "Absolutely!"

With that, they each grabbed a toast point and a slice of daube glace. Angie spread mustard over her entire portion, while Marcus only put it on half. Angie took the first bite, and her eyes went wide.

"What do you think?" Marcus asked.

"Better than I expected," Angie replied. "I think that so many American foods with gelatin in them have terrible reputations thanks to what was passed off as recipes back in the 1950s. Since this has French roots, though, there's actually some consideration for pairing vegetables and proteins that make sense together."

"True. Suppose I should give it a go."

Angie chuckled at Marcus while waiting for him to take a bite. He sampled the part without mustard first.

"How is it without the mustard?" she asked.

"Not bad," Marcus replied. "It's got that beefy flavor with a little tang from the wine, I think. I like it. Maybe I should see how it taste with the mustard."

Marcus bit into the side with the mustard, causing a chunk to fall onto his plate. Undeterred, he continues chewing with a thoughtful expression.

"I think," he began, "that I kind of like it better without the mustard, although it's also good with the mustard. I just think the mustard kind of covers up some of the more savory aspects."

"Maybe," Angie replied. "On the other hand, I'd think that this would be pretty rich without the mustard to offer some contrast."

"Good point," Marcus remarked.

"So what would you rate it?"

"Probably a four out of five. It's good, but I feel like there is such a thing as eating too much of it at once."

"Yeah. At least this time the leftovers from one of my cooking experiments is actually edible."

With that, the two of them laughed before Marcus got up to turn off the cameras.