ANOTHER PLEASANT HERMANOS SUNDAY

Feeling a little the worse for wear this morning ( a fairly regular state of affairs) I managed to drag myself to the gym and work out for a couple of hours which made me feel closer to being human than I did at 6am when I woke up feeling rough as a sandpapered backside.

It was HP's turn to cook. He had found a duck recipe on the web which involved stuffing the bird with rhubarb, grated ginger, onion and sage. Then roasted slowly on its giblets for 2 1/2 hours after which time the stuffing is removed and added to the pan juices witha cup of marsala and strained to make a gravy.

The bird is broken up into bits and topped off with some more rhubarb, ginger and sage, this time crispy fried in olive oil.

A light salad of shaved fennel and orange with a little chilli was the perfect accompaniment to the duck which was moist with crispy skin.

We washed it down with a light Chinon.

For pudding, the marsala brought to mind one of those old "Trat" style dishes which seem to have gone out of fashion as they have to be prepared to order. Zabaglione was always one of my favourite desserts when I first began eating out. Now, served on top of some remaining rhubarb, I wonder if it will ever make a comeback. I hope so, the warm velvety texture of the whipped eggs and sugar with that little hit of booze is such a great way to end a meal. If only I could have persuaded HP to wave around an unfeasibly large pepper pot at some point in the meal.

A pot of lemon, mint and ginger tea and a slab of Grand Cru brownie from the delightful Petra of Chocstar later, I am fortified enough to consider another week's hard grind at the cutting edge that is publishing.