‘Really well, thanks. I don’t know what magic mattress you have, but I haven’t slept this well in years. How about you?’
‘Not bad, thanks. What would you like for breakfast?’
‘You don’t need to wait on me.’
‘I know. So what would you like?’
I let out a sigh. ‘What are you having?’
‘I reckon scrambled eggs, with mushrooms and avocado.’
‘Then that sounds perfect. Assuming you have enough?’
‘I do.’
‘What can I do to help?’
‘I’m not going to get you to just sit down, am I?’
‘No.’
‘I didn’t think so. OK.’ He placed an avocado on a cutting mat in front of me, together with a knife, and turned away to get the eggs. When he turned back, I was attempting to copy what I’d seen on various reels and videos to prepare the fruit. Turned out it was harder than it looked and none of my cuts around the avocado were matching up with where I started.
‘You all right there?’
‘Do I need a map or something? Why are they going skew-whiff? It’s not supposed to be this difficult.’
‘Show me what you’re doing.’
I picked up the fruit, which by now was beginning to look as if it had picked an unwise fight with a vegetable twice its size, placed the knife in one of the grooves and began sawing.
‘OK, hang on a sec. Try and move round in a smooth action rather than sawing it and keep an eye on roughly where you started. That’s it, but push the knife in a little deeper.’
‘I thought I was doing that but I seem to have gone off-piste.’
‘Don’t worry. There, you’ve met up with the start now.’
‘One of the starts.’
‘Now give it a twist,’ he said, ignoring my despondent tone.
I followed the instructions and to my amazement, the two halves came apart. Admittedly, there were very raggedy edges, but still. I grinned up at Jesse, ridiculously pleased with myself. On a roll now, I placed the concave side down and put the tip of the knife near the stone on the other half.
‘Wait. I think you’re best off doing that with a spoon. Less chance of injury.’
‘It’s almost like you don’t trust me,’ I replied, laying down the knife with an inner sense of relief.
‘Not at all,’ he said as he carefully watched me remove the stone without loss of blood or digits thanks to the bluntness of the utensil.
‘I’ve seen chefs whack the stone with a knife and twist it to remove it.’
‘Yep, that’s an option, although from experience I’ve found that method a bit hit and miss but I’m no expert. I probably don’t have the right technique.’
‘This seems safer anyway.’
‘Certainly good to start with. Do you mind chopping that?’
‘No problem. Any tips for getting the flesh out you can show me or shall I just have a go?’
