I dabbed suspiciously at the cabbage with a fork, tasted the liquid and then chewed a crunchy ribbon.
The oysters are still perfect, however: fat boys from Widow's Hole, out on Long Island's North Fork, tasting of Peconic Bay's briny tang, like a swim off a Shelter Island beach; and more from Glidden Point in Maine, slippery as rock weed, bright with the taste of raw ocean.
"What delicious smells, and may I?" He dipped in a fork and, tasting, confirmed that the food was, indeed, delicious.
A grilled branzino, with salsa verde, radicchio and roasted potatoes, became mush on the fork, and tasted of little more than its texture.
They come together in nonvintage Garnet, a medium-bodied red blend from Galluccio Estate Vineyards/Gristina Winery in Cuthcogue on the North Fork that, tasted blind, could be attributed to a conscientious petit chateau: a small, unclassified Bordeaux estate.
Her Johnny Knows It (Page 359) is a dense prose poem to a hamburger noodle casserole that begins, irresistibly: "First you have to have a trying fork, a tasting spoon and an understanding heart and then go out someplace and get some hamburger meat".
You will not be deceived by a fork when tasting sheng jian bao, xiao long bao and stir-fried green beans, but use your lips when kissing your shark lip abalone soup.
Or as thoughts turn to autumn, from a comfy armchair at Günter Watté's chocolate-themed café (watt.be), sipping a latte and negotiating one of his dainty chocolate-pastry creations with a cake fork and a taste for indulgence.... dipping your bitterballen (meatballs) into spicy sauce at the art deco-style Frituur No 1.
So the adventure across the North Fork, with wine-tasting stops at Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue and Jamesport Vineyards in Jamesport and a wine tasting plus lunch back at Martha Clara, was a coup.
Stir in well with a fork, then season to taste.
