Whipping Something Up

“I’ve just been to Mexico and I’ve still not had enough,” Laurentine said as she scooped avocado into her favorite blue ceramic bowl. She added diced tomato, onion, garlic, lemon, salt, and pepper and smashed it together with a fork for a batch of fresh guacamole. “We have flatbread from Trader Joe’s,” she said, pulling a package out of the freezer. “I’m going to put that in my very favorite toaster oven.” She leaned her hip into the kitchen counter, blond hair tied up in a messy ponytail, fur-lined slippers on her feet.

Laurentine and I have lived together for the past six months, and she’s soon returning to Holland. I wanted to capture a moment of her cooking - her skill, whimsy, and enthusiasm in the kitchen - that I’ve been inspired (and fed) by before she leaves.

Laurentine doesn’t typically have lunch at home, but she decided to avoid a rainy trip to the office and work at the desk in her room. “I work in a research clinic, Penn’s Women’s Health,” she said, “I’m finishing up a project I’ve been working on for six months.” It’s her first year of med school at University of Groningen in Holland and she came to U Penn to study for six months. She’s been researching fertility preservation and today she’s writing up her final analysis. It’s been a bit of a slow morning. “It feels like an obligation working at home because you kinda want to do fun stuff when you’re at home,” she said. Fun stuff like make lunch.

“Oooo! No avocado pit in there!” Laurentine said, as she reached her hand into the garbage disposal. She spun around, simultaneously tidying up the kitchen and assembling her lunch. She opened the fridge and leaned in. “Cream cheese, or no cream cheese?” She’d been debating about adding it to the guacamole for a “little variation.” Her bright eyes widened in excitement, “I know, we can put a layer on the flatbread and then put the guacamole on top!” Problem solved.

As enthusiastic as she is about the guacamole, lunch is not Laurentine’s favorite meal. Mostly because afternoon time in the kitchen is not a regular occurrence. “I never have time to make something for myself,” she said. She’ll bring leftovers to work or go to her favorite Chinese food truck for soup and vegetables, but that means likely spending more money and not eating as healthy. And she rarely gets to eat with friends, something she misses from lunchtime back home in Holland. “Here I just warm something up or grab something and hopefully there would be someone else in the office eating lunch at the same time,” she said, a tinge of frustration in her voice.

In Holland, her and a few roommates would take an hour and a half off studying to whip something up and eat together. Cream cheese, avocado and Parma ham (a region-specific prosciutto) on a whole-wheat grainy something was a standby lunch. It’s something she hasn’t made in the States because, “Parma ham is incredibly expensive here,” she laughed. “In Holland I would eat 100 grams of Parma Ham a couple times a week.” Generally, though, she doesn’t miss Dutch lunch food. “Dutch people are all about their sandwiches, and I’m not a big sandwich person,” she said.

A slight scent of char started to permeate the kitchen. “Holy Mother, Katherine, something’s burning in here!” Laurentine slid to the toaster oven, chef’s knife in hand, and fished out a little baguette end. From last night’s dinner, she suspected.

The grainy flatbread was unharmed and she flipped it onto two plates (yes, I did get to enjoy the meal I’m writing about). She cut hers in half, smeared a thin layer of cream cheese on one side, piled on a few spoonfuls of guacamole, and almost took a bite… just as remembered the salsa and fresh cilantro in the fridge. She plucked a few leaves to garnish the top and dug in.

“Mmm,” Laurentine’s fingers moved like a piano player over her plate in excitement. “This is actually a really good lunch!” She looked around at our sunny little kitchen, then at me. “We’re the best at just whipping something up!”