When it arrived at my table, I knew that I had been warned, but not for this. “It’s pulled veal, sir,” the waiter had said. “It doesn’t come out as a whole breast, obviously. It takes two days to prepare.” So there was my veal, sitting on a brown and white puddle of something, a perfectly nice breast of veal shredded and reconstituted into a large crabcake-sized medallion, and deep fried so that it had a crust with just a hint of pistachio green. Veal has a crust?
I thought, why not just get the waffle-iron and the confectioner’s sugar, and just finish the job? High-end, high-concept Belgian waffles, made with something that had once been veal, I believe. But it does take two whole days to prepare.
So life, like ASECS, does hold its share of surprises. I had a good conference, and met some very nice folks, and saw some others I hadn’t seen in some time. My evenings with the folks from the Irish Studies Caucus were particularly delightful, not least because they made me forget the veal I’d been served.
Any conference highlights that people would like to share? Any papers or panels that you’d like to memorialize here? Just let us know.
Best wishes,
DM
