Haru
My son Haru is eighteen years old. In a month he will graduate high school. Just like with my daughter who left the nest exactly three years ago, when I think about my son leaving home in just a few months, I am both in awe and a little heart broken. He has already begun to make fun of me, sometimes teasing, “mama… don’t you dare cry!!” Haru has loved to watch movies since he was so small, when he could barely walk; I cannot even begin to grasp the number of characters, lines and scenes that are branded into his head, that he can recall and recite without faltering. When he got to high school, he began making some of his own short films, and in the wake of this pandemic, I’ve been lucky enough to be one of his actors in some of his movies (it’s not as if he had options in quarantine). It’s difficult to create and to follow through with that creation, but the moment when you produce a thing that has until that moment lived only in your mind is one of life’s great joys. Perhaps Haru will wander down the same path of “making” that I have found myself on.
Haru is the kind of person who doesn’t filter his opinions, and so for him to say that this month’s dessert, a chocolate pound cake, “is pretty good” is something close to a miracle; if you trust anyone’s opinion about food, trust his. This cake is not overly heavy, but it still has that rich chocolate flavor, and it’s dense enough that you can cut a thin slice and it will hold up nicely. I think I have a feeling as to why Haru loves this cake so much. It’s one of my favorites too. I like to keep it in the fridge to make it last and eat it little by little, tiny slice by tiny slice, savoring it. It’s likely any chocolate lover’s vice. In addition to the chocolate pound cake, I have prepared strawberry jam. Many of you have been kind enough to tell me that you love how pretty and delicious my jam is, and so I hope this one lives up to the standard. I think it will, since it’s one of my products that I take a lot of pride in. Please enjoy the spring (“haru” in Japanese, it’s my son’s name!) flavors and the spring season!
息子の春は１８歳。あと１ヶ月で高校を卒業します。ちょうど３年前に娘が巣立って行った時のようにあと数ヶ月で別れる息子のことを考えると感無量です。今から絶対泣くなとからかわれています。小さい時から映画をみることが大好きでどれだけのシーンやセリフが彼の頭の中に入っているのか想像もつかないほどです。高校に入ってからは自分でショートフィルムを作ることにも興味をもち、特にこのパンデミックになってからは、私も色々映画に出させてもらいました。何かを作り上げる、というのはすごく難しいことだけれど、それができた時の達成感はたまりません。春も私と同じようにものづくりの道を歩んでいくのかもしれません。
単刀直入、いいことも悪いことも遠慮なくいう、この春が「これはおいしいね」と言ってくれたチョコレートパウンドケーキを販売します。しつこくなく、それでもしっかりと主張するチョコレートの味、薄く切っても倒れないほどの安定感。なんだか春がこのケーキを好きな理由がわかるような気がします。私の大好きなケーキです。包んで冷やして保管し大事に大事に薄く少しずつ食べるのが私の食べ方。チョコレート好きにはたまらないはずです。
そしていちごジャムも販売します。毎回ジャムを販売するたびにこんな綺麗で美味しいジャムはない、などと言ってきましたが、今回も自慢の一品です。春（そう言えば私の息子の名前と同じですね）の味を是非お楽しみください。