M.F.K. Fisher Air-Lacquered Carrots

Author Notes

Her recipe was simple. Place the tangerine segments on the radiator. Forget about them. Open the window and cool the segments on packed snow.

And, since this sentence cannot justly be paraphrased, “I cannot tell you why they are so magical. Perhaps it is that little shell, thin as one layer of enamel on a Chinese bowl, that crackles so tinily, so ultimately under your teeth. Or the rush of cold pulp just after it. Or the perfume. I cannot tell.”

This is my tribute to my favorite literary passage (food-related, or otherwise). The outside of the carrots becomes thick and chewy, so you must tear at it. But the inside of the carrot yields. Make sure you slice the carrot thick enough so you can see your teeth marks sinking in. These are sweet and savory, chewy and soft. Carrot jerky would be another (somewhat crasser) way of describing this.

Read the entire tangerine excerpt of M.F.K Fisher’s “Serve it Forth” here: http://jessicatom.com/a-literary-food52-tribute-mfk-fisher-air-lacq —Jessica Tom