We were in bed, the window shut, and the light off. Olivia was asleep in her bed, dreaming about something—dogs, probably.

“What do you want for dinner?” Dani asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

It wasn’t true. It was only 8 a.m., but I already knew what I wanted for dinner.

“Indian food,” I said a few minutes later. I had been dreaming of butter chicken and garlic naan. “What do you think?”

“We could order those…what are they called? The potatoes with cheese.”

“Sure, yes. I don’t remember the name either, but I know what you mean.”

At that point, the conversation was over. Dani went to take a shower, and I made a six-egg omelette for us to share. While cooking, I kept thinking about butter chicken and cumin rice, trying to recall the name of the cheesy potatoes Dani wanted. It was an ordinary day, but it was probably the first time I realized how often I think about food. It doesn’t matter whether I’m hungry or not. I’m aware of it—it’s nothing to be ashamed of or worried about. It’s just something that needs to be acknowledged.

After eating our omelette and finishing our toast and coffee, we went to work. In the evening, on my way home, I ordered Indian food and paid an extra five euros for priority delivery. Everything was delicious. But when I went to bed, feeling full and tired, I smelled something in my room: raclette cheese?

Tamara Tossi ©

If we take a closer look at ramen restaurants and the number of microwaves they have, making ramen doesn’t seem too difficult. Of course, this only applies if we’re not talking about the really good ramen restaurants. But those are hard to find, especially in Madrid. We had a favorite one in Paris, but for some reason, we don’t live in Paris anymore. So tonight, I decided we were ready to make homemade ramen in the simplest and most delicious way possible.

First, I had to check that the bottle of ready-made beef soup I bought for my New Year’s Eve dinner was still good. Then, I asked Dani to cook the soup with a portion of pre-cooked rice noodles, wash and cut some spinach and chives, and add a pinch of salt to the soup. And I must say this: This may not be the most delicious ramen ever, but at least I didn’t spend thirty euros on microwave-heated ready-made soup like I did last time at one of those ramen restaurants.

Tamara Tossi ©

Share

Si nos fijamos en los restaurantes de ramen y la cantidad de microondas que tienen, preparar ramen no parece muy difícil. Por supuesto, también hay restaurantes de ramen maravillosos pero son difíciles de encontrar, al menos en Madrid. Nosotros teníamos uno que nos encantaba en París pero, por alguna razón, ya no vivimos allí.

Esta noche, he decidido preparar ramen en casa de la manera más fácil y deliciosa posible. Para hacerlo, lo que primero que he mirado es que el caldo de carne preparado que compré para hacer la cena de fin de año esté bueno. Y después, he pedido a Dani que cociera el caldo con unos noodles de arroz durante dos minutos, lavara y cortara las espinacas y el cebollino y lo añadiera al final. Y tengo que decir que quizá esta no es la manera más deliciosa de preparar ramen pero al menos no me he gastado treinta euros como la última vez que cené en uno de esos restaurantes llenos de microondas.

Tamara Tossi ©

Comment

** A partir de ahora intentaré enviar la newsletter en inglés y en español. Espero que os siga gustando tanto como siempre y recordad que la encontrareis en español debajo de la versión en inglés. ¡Feliz año nuevo! 🪅