Recipes

A page from the middle

The stub in the notebook

One page is missing from the middle of the notebook. No stain, no crumb. Whatever it was, she never said.

Spoiler What the missing page is

The page is La Maëlle: Apple compote, Salted caramel and Salted butter, folded into a square envelope, sold at 7,50 €. Until the story hands it over nobody orders it and cooking those fillings does not find it.

Later the stub is headed The caramel page: "'Not lost. I gave it to someone. He knows who he is.' The edge is torn by hand, in a hurry, and kindly."

It comes back from Armand.

Tante Maëlle's note: "My own. Armand helped me get it right, in 1987. He will deny it."