Missing coconut curry – and Teri

calming music background.

The aromas that drifted from the open- concept kitchen embraced you with a hominess that maybe wasn’t quite like the ones that would be in your mom’s but still promised a happy plate.

How many times would I pop in for lunch and see her son, sitting and eating a bowl of noodles while doing his schoolwork? And as Teri walked past him she would reach out to touch his arm or pat his head. We would chit-chat about her ESL school in Taiwan that she and her husband own, or their gorgeous property on the 201 that I not so secretly covet, with its running river and miniature ponies in a field across the road.

I’m sure the folks of Middleton and beyond got great anxiety for the day that signalled the closing of the cafe for the yearly trip overseas to check in on the school. We all knew she would come back to us and we were patient because all good things are worth the wait.

Watching Teri work is an inspiration. She chopped all her vegetables by hand. I remember playing in the shaking my head at her and asking why she didn’t use a food processor that would speed things up and allow for more customers to get their lunch quickly. That wasn’t why she was cooking, though. Her dishes were made individually for you, perfection every time.

Her small menu consisted of four or five dishes. Thai green curry, ginger chicken, pork noodles, pot stickers and those simple rice noodles and vegetables that folks clamoured for when she went to market.

Her jasmine iced tea will go down as the stuff of legends. My favourite was the Thai curry. From the perfectly cooked mound of rice to the delicately sliced carrots and spot-on steamed broccoli the best was yet to come. Coconut curry with cilantro, basil, kefir lime, and punch of heat and pieces of tofu that melted on the tongue. I will miss this dish more than anything - except Teri.