taʎːaˈtɛlːe and cut
Ah, what a jolly day that was I thank you both so much for ferrying too and fro: Anne for delicious pasta the other night and Francis for extreme courage in harmonious duty. Sups in October, coffee will be heavily caffeinated I promise. Love Jessie x (postcard from Whitley Bay on the North Sea).
One day, sooner or later, whether you find it by looking or having it looked for or whether it reaches you by mail in six years time – that is how long it has taken me to shake my vengeance – you will have this letter in your hands and you will finally know why and how I killed your daughter. X
Recipe for delicious pasta (disaster)
“I always use fresh tomatoes and anchovies, no tomato paste. Always fry your onions in butter for the best of buttery results and meanwhile prepare your broccoli on the chopping board. Use vegetable stock and take stock at all other times, keep calm and collected. Fresh tagliatelle, tagliolini or tagliare is the best type of pasta for strangulation. Boil this separately until half cooked and add it to the stock, tomatoes and anchovies. Add the broccoli too at this point, don’t cook it through leave it half raw – give her something to choke on.”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
In this lies anything but sinister edge but the relationship between two texts and the negotiation of a fiction brought together from the two. Jessie wrote her words on the back of a postcard that she left in an art gallery; I found the postcard that was addressed to Francis and Anne, in London. I copied the text and then posted the card. The text on vengeance came from a book I was leafing through at the time. The recipe comes from an artist friend of mine who works in publishing – she’s very quick at giving good ideas and lying out recipes and structures for text on the page.
