ALL ABOUT LUNCH

In complete contrast with what I had for dinner late at night on Saturday, yesterday evening's supper was far more sensible and balanced.

It contained fruit, protein, and starches, in a carefully thought-out arrangement.

It was the very last slice of Tuesday's birthday cake.

The whipped cream had a cherry on top.

Plus there was coffee alongside.

One must have coffee.

With cake.


See, you have to understand that on work-days, lunch is an incredibly late affair, often at tea-time instead of mid-day. Breakfast was the usual two strong cups of coffee before leaving the house around eight, and a cracker or two plus tea after reaching work. That's enough to keep me going for five or six hours, along with several cups of tea and two or three pipefulls of tobacco.

And I tend to get distracted while there. Yesterday I engaged in several disquisitions, involving old briar, bowl size, grain patterns, how tobacco ferments, natural sugars, terpeneols, carotenoids. Plus proteins (present largely in air-cured leaf, i.e. Burley, Maryland, and cigar), acetic acid (lowest in Maryland, highest in Oriental leaf), malic acid (very high in Burley, half that in Oriental, even less in Flue-cured and some others), and, oh lovely phrase, non-volatile aroma precursors (glucosides).

Plus pectin. Tobacco leaf is six to twelve percent pectin.


The sugars present in tobacco, as is well known, mitigate the harshness of the nicotine in the smoke by modifying how the mouth perceives the inhalation.

Nicotine, the most significant alkaloid in the product, is present at up to six percent for some Burleys and Virginias, around two percent for many fine cigar tobaccos, and less than a tenth of a percent for excellent Turkish. Fermentation breaks down some of the leaf constituents, and consequently the amount of nicotine in the leaf AFTER fermentation is between one sixth and one ninth of what it had been before.

What gives much tobacco it's characteristic plummy aroma, however, are the breakdown products of carotenoids.


In any case, for purposes of demonstration and illumination, examples of Latakia, Perique, Black Virginia Cavendish, Plain Cavendish, Burley, Bright Virginia, and Black Stoved Vanilla Cavendish were utilized.

Blending guidelines and proportions were discussed.

Heat and moisture content were mentioned.

Pipes were pensively smoked.


Didn't eat lunch till after four o'clock.
Finished before weirdoes walked in.


Cake, at nine in the evening, was just the ticket. It was very nice cake. That was the last piece. Dark bitter coffee complimented it perfectly.





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